


we are the architects of our own catastrophes

by serenascampbell



Category: Last Tango In Halifax
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-13 01:42:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 31,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2132376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenascampbell/pseuds/serenascampbell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John and Caroline are already divorced when Kate joins the school - starts as friendship, proceeds to become more later on. There may some smut later on but not quite yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The new languages teacher was due in her office any minute, this would be the first time that Caroline met the woman who was soon going to be teaching almost her entire student body. She had not been present when Kate McKenzie was interviewed so today was going to be the beginning of their working relationship. 

A tall, slim woman with beautifully rich skin walked through the door followed closely by the blonde and bouncy Beverly who announced her arrival. 

“Hello, it's nice to finally meet you.” Caroline smiled as she spoke, offering her hand across the desk before taking a seat. “Please sit down, Kate isn't it?” 

“Yes...Kate, it's lovely to put a name to a face finally. My previous employer spoke highly of you so I must admit I was intrigued.” The younger woman replied, sitting down in the chair opposite Caroline's.

“Well, there's not really much I need to say to you anyway. Erm...my door's always open because I try to keep an amicable relationship with all of the staff. I take it Beverly has already shown you the time table as well as where you'll be teaching and I believe Gavin talked you through the term syllabus so you know what you're teaching. Call me Caroline, everybody does – that's it really.” Caroline spieled off quickly without stopping for breath, ending with a curt nod. 

“Right, okay then. I believe I'm being thrown in at the deep end with set 3 year eights so wish me luck. I'll get out of your hair now, thanks Caroline.” Kate responded kindly, Caroline scoffed at her with a knowing look – she really was being thrown in with the sharks. 

“Yeah...good luck. Keep me updated on how you're doing with everything as well. I'll give you a few minutes to set up then, bye bye Kate. I'll talk to you later.” 

As she watched the 30-something woman leave the room, Caroline could already tell that she was going to get on well with Kate Mckenzie and it excited her to know she might have a new ally in the school corridors. 

This woman had talent and dedication on her side – she was multilingual, had great references from past schools, natural musical ability and multiple qualifications – so the head teacher knew from the moment that she walked through the door that she showed great promise.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate heard the bell ring and the nerves began to kick in, she wedged open the door and took a seat behind the desk. As she waited for the kids to arrive, the experienced woman reassured herself – she was popular with the kids because she was laid back, she knew how to discipline the difficult kids, she was hard-working so was popular with staff. 

Teenage boys started to stream in, making their way to seats and flummoxing down in to them before carrying on their conversations. It wasn't until every seat was filled that she walked over to shut the door.

“Hello everybody, my name is Miss Mckenzie. I'm your new languages teacher – now you're all wondering what type of a teacher I am so I'm going to break it down for you. I like to have a laugh with my class but I can be a hard case if you don't get your work done – stay on the right side of me and I could well become your favourite teacher. Now...is there a new seating plan? Yes! Do you get to choose it? Yes! But, anyone who isn't getting their work done will get moved quick as anything.”  
The entire class was staring at her blandly with bags still on bags, elbows rested on tables and most of the students looking half asleep. “Understood?”

Kate received a few half-hearted nods of approval before she rolled her eyes and took another approach. 

“Right, forget that. Everybody stand up.” There were a few moans from unenthusiastic lads but everybody complied. “Get in to pairs, not people you'll mess around with or you can forget it. Pick a desk and sit down next to that person – no threes or ones.”

There were a couple of minutes of movement before everybody was sat in a seat, looking towards the front of the class. 

“Okay, that's brilliant so let's get started – I'm going to start off by telling you something that's going to make you all hate me but I promise it will get you through your exams. Instead of doing a term on each language, we're going to do them all at once, one lesson a week for each language throughout the entire year.” She was shot a few ugly glares from students, turning their noses up at her in disgust at her plan but no-one made a comment. “Monday Period 2s are Spanish, so let's go.”

The lesson rolled through quickly and there was no hassle from anybody until the last ten minutes. A young lad was messing around with a ruler, obviously paying no attention to the work that was in front of him – Kate remembered from the register that his name was Lawrence...she'd only picked up on it because this was Caroline's younger son. 

“Lawrence, is there a reason you aren't doing the work? Or have you finished it already?” Miss Mckenzie questioned, pausing to look at the blank worksheet on the table. 

“I don't get it, I don't want to get it, I can't be arsed to do it. Why do I need to learn another language anyway, I don't plan to live in Spain anytime soon!” The young boy replied snottily, smirking as though he expected the new teacher to let him off because it was her first day. 

“Fine, do what you like with the last ten minutes of your lesson. You're spending your break time with me though, Lawrence.” She responded coolly, trying to conceal the smug grin on her face as he met her glance with narrowed eyes. “As you were then.”

She could tell by the end of the lesson that she had made a good impression on this class, perhaps the way she had dealt with Lawrence that had been the turning point because for most of the lesson they'd been treating her like a sub.

The teenagers filed out of the room quickly to go to their break and only Lawrence was left, sitting bemusedly in the plastic seat. A young girl called Sophie closed the door behind herself and Kate rose to walk towards the young boy across the room. 

“Right then,” Kate pulled up a chair to sit opposite Lawrence and folded her arms authoritatively. “Do you want to tell me what that was about earlier on?” 

The young Elliot boy raised his head to meet her gaze but said nothing. 

“Because I've looked at your grades and your behaviour report, you seem like a good lad so why have you decided that you don't want to make an effort in my classes?” 

Still no response. 

“Look, I will get you through these exams – either the easy way or the hard way. You can choose to co-operate and things will be easier for both of us – I'm told that I'm a pretty nice teacher so you can be honest with me about whatever's up, okay Lawrence?” Kate offered, hoping to get something from the boy.

“Okay then. I'm sorry about acting like an idiot earlier it's just...I really don't get this stuff and...well it's embarrassing so I pretend that I can't be bothered with it instead. I'll try and be nicer to you, it's just I find this stuff confusing – I don't mean to mess around so much.” Lawrence uttered timidly, fiddling awkwardly with the zip of his backpack. 

“I take it that most teachers just take this straight to your Mum because of who she is but I promise you – I won't be telling Mrs Dawson anything that I wouldn't usually tell a parent, okay?” Kate received a hesitant nod in response and smiled at him before continuing. “I can offer you extra help to make sure you understand the work better but it will mean that you have to give up some of your own time and that you do actually try with the stuff we do in class.” 

“Yeah of course, it's just that most teachers don't care. They aren't willing to put in any extra effort so I don't bother myself – thanks Miss Mckenzie.” 

“You can go and have the rest of your break now Lawrence, I'll make sure to put in the extra effort for you as well.” Kate responded, rising from where she was sat to moved back towards her desk. 

She watched as the young boy exited the room and smiled to herself – there was nothing better than building a good relationship with a seemingly difficult student.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make Michael 'bloody' Dobson even more of an obnoxious little prick...purely for effect.

Period 3 and 4 were easy with set ones who were enthusiastic and smart enough to understand what she was trying to teach them. 

Lunch arrived and though she was pleased for the break, there was no great sense of relief in Kate's mind as she watched children mill past her classroom door in the direction of the canteen. There was a sharp knock on the door which made Kate sit up in her chair before the door opened and Caroline's head poked inside. 

“Do you mind if I join you?” Caroline asked, entering the room presumptuously without waiting for an answer. “I thought you'd be down in the staff room socializing but apparently you've been clever and stayed away from the chaos in there.”

“Yeah, I'm not great at getting along with other teachers so I decided that meeting the kids was today's big adventure and the staff room could be tackled another time.” Kate replied, ushering Caroline with her hand towards the closest table. 

“Sounds like a good plan to me, five years down the line I still do my best to avoid that place. Our staff are alright in controlled doses but I find most of them quite overbearing at times.” Caroline continued, perching on the desk with one leg crossing over the other – showing just a little more leg than necessary in her tight pencil skirt. “So, how's your first day been?”

“Great actually, the kids have all been really good about it. I don't remember the last time I found a school with children this welcoming to be quite honest.” Kate replied, grinning amicably at her new boss. “I feel like there's a sense of community that you don't get in public schools anymore.”

“Yeah, there really is because we make sure to only hire teachers who actually want to be teachers rather than over-qualified 50 year-olds who can't stand children. But that is just between the kids – the staff don't get on nearly that well and we all do alright but we're not the type of group who'd go out for someone's birthday or anything. That's why I was pleased when I heard we'd chosen a woman for this position – there's nobody working here that I really socialize with and it'll be nice to have someone around who I feel I can get on with.” Caroline explained, feeling odd about what she was saying – she'd barely known Kate a few hours but she already felt as though she could get on with her.

“I know what you mean! At my last school, I literally spoke to one person socially and that was my ex-husband so it should be nice to get a fresh start and make a friend or two in the workplace.” Kate responded cheerfully, already sensing that she would get on well with the woman who sat across from her. 

From the moment she had walked in to her office, Kate had noticed how beautiful Caroline was – the way she was so confident in how she looked, the way her clothes hugged her curvaceous figure, the way that her eyes shone a magnificent blue. 

“Oh, I'm sorry. But when you divorce it gives you a new found sense of freedom to do what you like with. It offers you a fresh start, an opportunity for a whole new chapter.” Caroline responded, talking from her own experiences. 

The blonde adjusted herself on the table, pulling the energy bar out of her pocket and beginning to nibble at the corner of it. Watching as Kate picked at her salad looking displeased, she smirked slightly at the slim woman's expression. 

“I can't offer you anything today but usually I nip to the cafe down the road for lunch, you're welcome to join me tomorrow if you like?” Caroline offered, taking advantage of her knowledge of the area. 

“Sounds brilliant as long as you don't mind. I've never really enjoyed packed lunches but I didn't fancy wandering out alone on my first day.” Kate said kindly, looking up at the older woman. “So, what do people do for fun around here. I've been here for a total of three weeks and the only times I've left the house are to go to the supermarket and to come here.” 

Caroline giggled at her slightly, once she had been this shy when she had moved out of home. 

“There's nothing too exciting but when you have a day free I can show you the sights, if you like?” 

“That'd be lovely, I don't have any plans outside of work at all so it's up to you really.” 

The two settled in to an amicable conversation, chatting about the other staff as well as their own general interests and before they knew it, the bell was about to ring. Caroline rose from where she had been sat and started towards the door, strutting in her high heels. 

“I'll speak to you later then, have a good last lesson Kate.” She said as she pulled open the door and began to make her way out of it slowly. 

“Yeah, I will...thanks Caroline.” Kate replied, watching as the blonde left the room and smirking to herself. There was something about the way Caroline acted around her that made her feel utterly flirtatious in a way that she couldn't understand – she was struggling to contain her excitement to see the woman again.

Her last lesson went by quickly and simply, she got together her things and made her way in to the corridor feeling utterly pleased that she had no reason to stay late for once. 

“Hi, you must be Kate!” A male voice behind her said, she turned to see a scrawny article of a man who was walking towards her. “Michael Dobson, maths – how's your first day been? Fancy going for a drink to welcome you if you've got nothing else on.” 

Kate struggled not to scoff at his forwardness, she could already see that he was the image of Richard in many respects – although he was considerably less attractive which made things worse. Determined to not make any enemies on her first day, Kate decided against her prime instinct and let him down lightly instead. 

“Hi, yeah erm...sorry I kind of already have plans. Nice to meet you though Michael, maybe another time. Speaking of which I'm going to be late.” Kate offered half-heartedly, faking a smile in his direction before speeding off down the corridor and leaving out of the main entrance, praying that he wouldn't catch up to her. It was times like these when she wished she still had a car...bloody divorce lawyer.


	4. Chapter 4

Walking swiftly down the path in front of the school, Kate heard the sound of a car approaching from behind and rolled her eyes – preparing herself to be polite. When she heard it slow to roll beside her and roll down the window, the young woman turned her head slightly with a fake and over-exaggerated smile.

“You alright, Kate?” Kate exhaled deeply, relieved to hear Caroline's voice and not a male one.”You just seem in a bit of a hurry, that's all. You don't need a lift anywhere do you?” 

“Actually that would be marvellous Caroline, anywhere will do. I'll explain in a moment.” Kate responded as she walked to climb in to the passenger seat of the Jeep. Caroline looked at her with a confused expression but continued to drive out of the gate, rolling up the window. “One of the staff – Michael Dobson I think his name is – asked me out for a drink, like he was coming on to me so I said I had plans to get rid of him.” 

“Yeah, Michael has tried it on with every single woman in our school – don't worry, he'll lay off soon enough. Where'd you want me to drop you off?” Caroline asked, looking over to her new languages teacher.

“Anywhere will do really, I can walk home – I've got nothing better to do with my afternoon.” Kate responded, smiling across at Caroline as she spoke. 

“Well if you actually don't have plans...I don't either – we can get Indian if you like? I've got an empty house and nothing better to do plus you sound like you're going to spend your night with your tv.” Caroline turned a corner, fiddling with the air-conditioning controls as she drove. 

“Ha! I wish, haven't got around to buying a new one yet so it'll more likely be the newspaper. If you're sure you haven't got something more important to be doing that sounds lovely Caroline.” 

After just a couple of minutes the car pulled in to the long gravel drive promptly and Kate was slightly in awe of the gorgeous house that stood before her. Both women got out of the car and Caroline lead the way towards the door, ushering her friend inside softly. 

Kate took a seat cautiously on the edge of the sofa as she watched her boss play her voicemail messages and flick through the post casually.   
“Make yourself comfortable, I'll grab the takeaway menu. Neither of my boys will be back until past 10 so feel free to act as though you're in your own home.” Caroline called from the kitchen, speaking humbly in a way that warmed Kate's heart.

As someone with a petite figure and a small appetite, Kate knew she wouldn't order very much but it had been a long time since she'd treated herself to some junk food. She settled back in the chair and pulled out her phone to check her messages before turning it off – happy in the knowledge that she had made a friend so quickly. 

“Okay, just put a tick by anything you want and I'll order in a couple of minutes – it takes half an hour delivery anyway and I can't be arsed to traipse out again and collect it.” Caroline entered the room, sliding the flyer on to the table and taking a seat at the other end of the sofa. 

Kate scrolled quickly down the list already knowing what she fancied and with a slight flick of the wrist, she put a tick next to the two things that she wanted. 

“Sounds good to me.” The younger woman replied, passing the menu over to Caroline as she talked. “Thanks for this by the way...you know, going out of your way to make me feel welcome.” 

The rest of the night was spent relaxing – chatting over plates of fatty food and glasses of wine while watching the television. When eight o'clock rolled around, Kate suggested that she should probably get going and rose from where she had been sat all evening. 

“Sorry, of course! I didn't even realize the time – I'll just grab my keys and I can give you a lift home.” 

Taking a seat in the driver's side of the car, Caroline flicked on the car's radio and started playing the classical CD as she twisted the key in the ignition. 

“Well, at least you have good taste in music.” Kate commented, resting her elbow on the car door.

“Yes, I used to play piano so I like to listen to it now – it allows me to reminisce. I've heard you're quite the budding musician.” Caroline replied, tapping Kate's address in to the satnav as she spoke. 

“I grew up in a family of music so it's in my blood, the guy who interviewed me said I was welcome to take on a position in the music department as well but I turned it down.” There were a few moments of slightly uneasy silence before Kate continued talking. “So, how come you don't play anymore?” 

“Oh I don't know really...I don't have the time, I sold our baby grand a few years back. I just lost all inspiration to be quite honest.” Caroline was met with a mild look of confusion when she raised her head. “I only ever played to compose, so when I stopped composing, I stopped playing as well.”

“You should never give up a love like that...not for anyone. Especially if you're talented – when you get the spare time, drop in and you can have an hour or two on my Bosendorfer.” 

The Jeep slowed down and stopped at the entrance to a short paved driveway leading up to a modest yet stylist house. 

“I'd love to sometime. Thank you for a good night, Kate – I'll see you in the morning.” Caroline uttered, watching as her new employee got out of the car and made her way up the drive before turning to wave a friendly goodbye.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Caroline was pouring her coffee when her two sons came in to the room dressed in uniform. 

“Morning boys.” William grunted tiredly but Lawrence seemed more pleased than ever to be going to school and it was odd – she knew that her son despised the education system. “Alright, Lawrence?”

“Yeah, I've got German today and our new teacher's great.” Lawrence responded, knawing at the corner at a piece of overdone toast. “You've actually chosen a decent teacher for once Mum!” 

Caroline scoffed, since when had her youngest ever cared about the quality of his teachers – he just wanted them to leave him alone and not give him tonnes of homework. It was satisfying for her though – to see that Kate had made such a positive impression and proved her suspicions right. 

The large grandfather clock struck half past and the three of them grabbed their bags before rushing towards the car.

William was fretting about a GCSE controlled assessment he had for English and spent his car journey scanning frantically over a messily annotated copy of what appeared to be Romeo and Juliet. Lawrence sat looking out of the window with a grin across his face, scratching mindlessly at the zip of his backpack. 

“Right, you two have a good day. Good luck Will – I'll see you both later on.” Caroline said, letting the car crawl to a halt at the kerb of the school's entrance.

Through her rear view mirror, the headteacher could see Kate walking in to the school gates looking considerably less flustered than she had yesterday. Miss Elliot watched as she drove slowly, smirking at the way the new teacher reacted to the shy waves directed at her by students.

After parking her car and walking to her office, Caroline walked in to find Beverley pottering around, re-adjusting things on her desk. 

“Good morning Caroline!” Beverly spoke enthusiastically, raising her head to meet her boss' glance and looking mildly shocked. “No hangover? After a monday evening home alone – not possible, surely?”

Caroline laughed at her, knowing full well that she was absolutely right. 

“The new languages teacher...Kate? We shared takeaway because neither of us had plans and I would've felt bad leaving her home alone after her first day in this place.” Beverly gave an understanding nod before leaving the room with a smile on her face. 

After a quick assembly, Caroline returned to her office grinning at the prospect of an easy day. All she had was a meeting this afternoon and ten end of year reports left to do. 

As if on cue, Michael Dobson pranced in to her office looking mildly angry about something and she struggled not to roll her eyes at him. 

“We've got a problem.” He stated plainly, looking at her with a look in his eyes that most would mistake for true confidence. Michael liked to believe that he had some degree of authority in the school but Caroline couldn't stand the insolent little bastard. “The new languages teacher, Kate? I don't think she's going to work well with the staff, a couple of the others agree and none of us really know her but from what we've seen she doesn't appear to be well suited.” 

“Like you just said Michael...none of you really know her. And anyone, I'm not going to fire somebody purely because a member of staff has decided they don't like them! Do you realize how conceited it is when you come in here expecting me to let a perfectly good teacher go purely because she isn't your best friend!” 

Arguments like these used to be far and few but recently Caroline had been known to lose her nerve with Michael – either he was turning in to more of a prick or she was failing to deal with him properly. 

He scoffed at her before storming out dramatically, knowing that he could full well be fired for the way he had just acted. Caroline would never actually get rid of Michael no matter how much she'd like to, he was a jerk at times but he was an alright teacher who actually wanted to work. 

Her morning went quickly, her meeting with Gavin went without a hitch and she got all of her work for the day finished. Meanwhile Kate was busy trying to teach tenses to her new year seven class – French had always been her weakest language and she didn't enjoy teaching it. 

Lawrence's German lesson was much more pleasant and he actually got a lot of work done despite the number of mistakes he made – Kate felt ridiculous in her mind, already feeling a sense of pride towards him but it was true. She'd read about this boy's history and it wasn't like he was this quick to change for other teachers. 

“Class dismissed – I'll see you all on Thursday.” Miss Mckenzie called over the noise of the bell that echoed through the school. Lawrence shot her a quick smile as he walked towards the door – he had already offered to come and do some extra work in his study period which luckily was on her management time. 

After just a few minutes in her classroom of collecting the worksheets that were scattered across tables and picking up pens that had fallen under chairs – Kate heard a knock on the door. Turning around swiftly, she left the pile of paper on the front desk and sauntered casually towards the door. 

“Still coming with?” The blonde woman on the other side of the door questioned, gazing happily at the way the brunette already had a jacket on. “Let's go then.”

Both women walked along the long corridors that were lined with stragglers on their way to the canteen – Caroline strutted confidently while Kate moved lightly on her feet as though she was trying to limit her presence. 

Walking the few hundred yards down the street to the cafe, the young languages teacher realized that she had already picked up a coffee there the first time she was in the area. It looked like a nice enough place, more like a quaint tea room than a typical Starbucks copycat. 

“I'll order if you go and grab a table – what do you fancy?” Caroline asked as they arrived at the front door. Kate could already smell the delightful scents seeping out of the entrance and it made her hungrier than she already felt. 

“Chicken Caesar Salad and a cup of coffee please.” Kate responded before walking over to an empty table and taking a seat on one side of it.


	6. Chapter 6

“You don't understand how angry I was with him! Coming to me and saying you 'weren't going to work well' because you put a dent in his ego! It's ridiculous to be quite honest, I can't stand him anyway!” Caroline explained, giggling slightly as she sipped at her orange juice. 

“Yeah but I feel awful, god I should've just said yes to him!” Kate responded having swallowed a mouthful of cucumber. “If it wasn't for you saving me then I probably would've!” 

“Then you are SO welcome because he is the worst person to ever go out for drinks with, he gets horrendously slutty when he's tipsy and he'll flirt with a lamp post!” Kate's eyes bulged slightly and she nudged her boss' leg under the table, biting at her lip anxiously with her eyes fixed on the door. “What is it, Kate?”

“He just walked in.” Kate whispered harshly, letting her eyes flick between the counter and Caroline. “Thank god you picked up quick enough or he would've heard. I'm going to duck and hope he doesn't see me.” The blonde couldn't help but giggle slightly at the way her friend was hiding behind a menu with her eyes peeking over the top. 

After a minute or so of tense silence, a relieved sigh escaped Kate's lips and she rose to sit upright in her seat and continue her meal. 

“You know there's only one way to get rid of him if you don't want him fawning over you for the rest of eternity.” Caroline stated plainly, tapping gently at the side of her glass as she spoke. 

“How? I'll do anything that is legal and not entirely damaging in order to get rid of him, please Caroline!” The darker woman pleaded, looking at her friend with puppy-dog eyes. 

“Well you'll have to take him out and put him off you entirely – either make yourself appear horrendously undesirable or make him believe that you're spoken for. Although I wouldn't suggest going alone in case he does make advances – I can come with and we'll invite Gavin as well so it seems more social.” Caroline offered, looking hopefully at her friend for approval.

“Sounds good to me as long as you're sure you have the time for it – I want to get it over with though so...tonight?” Kate suggested hesitantly, not wanting to seem as though she was forcing her new-found friend into anything. 

“Fine by me, Gavin asked me for drinks with him and Mark tonight anyway but if I ask Beverly then it levels out the numbers.” Caroline responded, looking over at the woman who had just swallowed the last forkful of her meal. “Not that we'll be pairing off, but it's easier. Mark and Beverly will go home together then I can drive you and Gavin can drive Michael.”

“Sounds good to me, but how do I make myself 'undesirable'? I don't want to go down the taken route or it screws up any other dating prospects I have.” Kate pondered, usually she was too blunt for her own good so taking a subtle approach was out of her comfort zone. 

“Right let's talk strategy then...” Caroline began. “You could say you're pregnant...or that you're a lesbian? Then again, the follow up would be messy. Erm...you could go for the slutty approach that might put him off.” 

The two women got in to a deep tactical conversation and lost track of time, they both rose from their seats and split the bill evenly, leaving in a hurry with only five minutes until the bell rang. They had a game plan for that evening but they still needed to get Michael on board first. 

“Hey, Michael?” Kate offered, poking her head inside of the classroom only a few doors down the corridor from hers. “Sorry about rushing off last night, a few of us are going out tonight – I was wondering if you fancied tagging along? To make up for yesterday?” 

“Yeah that sounds great, where and when?” Michael responded in a snobby yet excited tone – Kate quickly gave him the details before slipping away to her own class. 

It didn't take much to get Beverly to agree to come, all that Caroline had to tell her was that Mark was going and she was all for it. Caroline had a relaxed couple of hours with no real work to get done – her mother called which wasn't an entirely pleasant conversation: 

“Well when you decide to come back to England maybe I'll make the effort to be a better daughter! Call me when you get back from France Mum!” Caroline explained before it came to an abrupt halt and she heard the operator speaking in her ear. 

Ever since Kenneth had passed away, Caroline's mother had distanced herself from the rest of the family and had gone a two month vacation directly after the funeral. It felt like she was trying to avoid accepting it so she just pretended she was holiday in order to avoid normal life. 

The headteacher sat at her desk, sipping at tea and skimming through e-mails just waiting for the bell to ring. Eventually it did and she stood up ready to make her way slowly down to Kate's classroom. 

Over the past 48 hours she had already grown considerably attached to the new member of staff and had become worryingly reliant on her company. 

“Ready to go?” The blonde questioned, popping her head through the already open door of the languages classroom. It still felt odd that for so long that classroom had belonged to Mr Wainright and his stiff upper lip. 

“I certainly am, we nipping back to yours first?” Kate replied – between the two of them, they had agreed that they would start off at Kate's house and get a taxi in to town so they didn't both stumble in to Caroline's home drunk at an ungodly hour if they had a few too many drinks. 

Picking up her bag from under her desk and slipping on her jacket, Kate walked towards the door and flicked off the lights casually as she left. 

They walked towards the car park together and bumped in to Michael who smiled at the both of them, unsuspecting of their ulterior motives to socialize with him.


	7. Chapter 7

“You're supposed to be putting him off!” Caroline exclaimed looking at the tight, blue dress Kate was wearing which emphasized her shape extensively. 

“Oh shut up, you'll have Gavin pouncing on you!” Kate responded, applying mascara using the hallway mirror. “Strutting around in your stilettos.”

Both women looked themselves over in the mirror before heading back downstairs to relax in the half an hour they still had left. The blonde was wearing a pale dress that showed off her ample bust and made Kate shiver – it was the first time in years she'd worn anything other than office wear to leave the house.   
“Oh my goodness Kate, it's beautiful!” Caroline clapped eyes on the beautiful instrument stood in the centre of the front room. 

“It is...cost enough! It was a gift for my 21st from my parents – I make a point of playing at least once a day so that I never lose my connection to it.” Kate responded, stroking along the pristine ivory keys. “Anyway, give it a whirl! You might as well while you're here and I'll even turn around if you get stage fright.”

Caroline giggled at the younger woman's teasing tone, taking a seat hesitantly and letting her fingers hover for just a moment before allowing them to spread gently across the octave. 

The blonde began to play, slowly at first until she was becoming comfortable with the landscape of the keys. It was the first piece she had ever composed – never particularly amazing but it had a special place in her heart even now. 

Her fingers met the smooth notes, creating beautiful harmonies that caused nerve reactions and before the end of the piece, she was playing from instinct. Losing herself in a piece of music was one of the things that Caroline was best at, even when she didn't mean to. 

“That's beautiful – who is it? Sounds a bit like Bach but with elegance.” Kate whispered in to the quiet of the room. 

“Charming, so I'm an elegant female Bach then?” Caroline questioned, smirking as she turned to head to face Kate who was leaning casually against the top board prop. 

“You wrote that?! Oh my god Caroline – you should not be working in a school! You should be playing worldwide!” Kate responded excitedly, pleasantly surprised by the talent she had found. 

“No...I play for pleasure and that alone. I used to write lyrics as well but only for some of my pieces...where it felt like just the music wasn't enough.” Caroline continued, tenderly playing out the first few bars of Beethoven's moonlight sonata. 

Kate was falling in love with the way her fingers glided across the keys smoothly, the music almost literally tugged at her heartstrings and she felt as though it was her new favourite thing in all of the world. 

Caroline moved further up the piano and patted the space beside her on the stool, the younger woman sat down and listened closely to the way the chords rode up and down the piano. 

“Go on then, as a music teacher you must be considerably more talented than me so show me something amazing Miss Mckenzie!” Elliot drew her fingers back and rested them on her thighs, looking expectantly at Kate. 

Kate began to play Flight of the Bumblebee and Caroline watched as her digits moved across the notes so precisely. When the blonde rose her eyes to meet the other woman's, she found her staring placidly at the wall opposite with no emotion.

“That's the problem – I play with skill but not with passion...not anymore.” Kate stated plainly as she finished the piece – she looked in to the enquiring eyes of Caroline. “I was pregnant...coming up to three years ago now. I was so happy, I had dreams about how I'd teach my little girl to play piano and take her to dancing lessons. Then at 11 weeks I miscarried, I've had another 3 since then but the first one hit me the hardest and...when she died? My love for music died with her.”   
Caroline was truly heartbroken and wanted to cry but she wasn't some emotional twat who couldn't control her emotions. Instead, she rested a hand carefully on the younger woman's shoulder and rubbed it sympathetically. 

“You can't let that control your life...to any degree! It's not fair to give something up because you lost somebody – you haven't lost your love for teaching, or languages so why would you ever give up something so special to you?” The blonde smiled at her with narrowed eyes. “You loved music before, so why can't you love it after? It's not an overnight thing, I know that because I gave up music after my divorce...I thought I'd never feel the same about it again.”

The doorbell rang rather abruptly, feeling intrusive in the moment as both women rose to leave. Slipping on her highest heels, Kate walked to open the door and greet the taxi driver – followed in suit by Caroline. 

Kate locked the door and slipped her keys inside her clutch before following the cab driver and her boss towards the vehicle and getting in to the left side door. The journey was quick and they arrived at the bar with ten minutes to spare, taking a seat to wait for the rest of the group to arrive.

It wasn't long before the other four arrived and spotted the two women at a table close to the bar. They greeted each other and got in the first round, all with the overall intention to get absolutely slaughtered and Kate building up her dutch courage to face Michael. 

He spent the entire night hanging off her and Caroline was doing her best not to leave the two of them alone for longer than necessary. Kate knocked back another shot of tequila and prepared to take Michael to the side and break the bad news to him.


	8. Chapter 8

Michael had been keen to leave after his 'little chat' with Kate so he and Gavin left before half seven, Beverly and Mark stuck around for a short while longer before sneaking off together which left just the two women. 

“What exactly did you say to him? He seemed a bit shocked...well a lot more shocked than he would've if you'd said what you intended to come on?” Caroline questioned, sipping at a large glass of red wine and smirking, the alcohol was beginning to take it's effect on her behaviour.

“I told him I was a lesbian...it's only half a lie I suppose. If I'd said that I was bisexual he would've believed he still had a chance and I don't have any intentions of dating any guys in the near future so it's no loss to me.” Kate responded bluntly, letting the end of her drink slide down the back of her throat. 

“Holy shit, you actually are a lesbian! I thought you were straight otherwise I would've said use that from the beginnning!” Caroline exclaimed, fear striking through her eyes as soon as the words left her mouth. “Sorry, just realized how rude that sounded. Alcohol removes the filter between brain and mouth.” 

“It's fine – you reacted better than most would.” Kate giggled slightly, knowing that both of them were more than slightly intoxicated. “Bit of a shock to most people as well considering I've done the whole marriage thing as well.” 

Both of them had a couple more drinks before calling a cab to take them back to Kate's house – Caroline would have to leave her car there until morning but she could order a taxi later on to take her home for the night.   
The two women stumbled through the front door giggling, crashing loudly through the house before flopping down on to the sofa and taking refuge there. Both women slipped off their shoes and brought them up to rest on the couch, oddly comfortable with the informality of the situation. 

“I just realized I don't know a thing about you and we're acting like best friends!” Caroline shouted much more loudly than necessary, giggling at the way she had spoken. 

“Let's play Q&A then, we do it in class to get to know one another and usually it's in another language but it speeds up the 'getting to know one another' stage.” Kate suggested, feeling like a kid for actually suggested it but neither of them were sober enough to care. 

Every teacher had done this exercise with a class at some point – you ask one question, can't ask the same question as the person before you and you can't refuse to answer the question.

“Okay then, let's start out easy.” The blonde pondered, taking a moment to consider her first question. “Favourite tv show?”

“Sherlock” Kate replied with a grin on her face. “Favourite novel?”

“Pride and Prejudice. Last film you cried at?”

The two settled in to an easy conversation and they learnt a hell of a lot about each other. Caroline also now knew that Kate's birthday was coming up next month which would be nice. 

“I still can't believe you like Kate Bush – that's seriously depressing Caroline.” Kate exclaimed, giggling loudly in her drunken state. 

“There's nothing wrong with a bit of Kate Bush occasionally! I went to a concert of hers when I was younger – there was a phase when I was in school where everybody loved her.” Caroline retorted defensively with a smirk spread across her face. “And it's not like you can talk, really Kate – Culture Club?!” 

“Oh shush! Your kids seem nice by the way – William seems like he's really going to go places and Lawrence is a lovely boy.” Kate spoke sincerely, tucking her knees under her chin and smiling over at her boss. 

“You've done something to that boy I swear – this morning he got up EARLY to get ready for school because he was so excited about German. What did you offer him because he despises school!” Caroline stated, laughing at herself as she talked.

“Nothing really – he just needed a push in the right direction from somebody.” 

Caroline leaned towards the table and picked up at her phone, widening her eyes to allow them to focus on the bright screen. It was 9:24 – where had all that time gone?

“I'm just going to call a cab to pick me up – should probably be getting home.” Caroline stood up carefully, leaning heavily against the arm of the chair and staggered towards the large bay window. 

After ordering a cab and hanging up the phone, Kate stood up warily and walked towards the door to grab Caroline's jacket for her. The blonde made her way through the hallway casually and took the coat before pulling Kate in to a hug – it wasn't the kind of behaviour for when she was sober but considering she was pissed beyond belief it seemed acceptable.   
“Thanks for a good night Kate! I'll see you tomorrow morning and you can empathize with my hangover!” She heard a car pulling up outside and placed a quick peck on Kate's cheek...just a little closer than was necessary before opening the door and heading home.

When she got through her front door, Caroline did her best to be quiet but realized that both of her sons were still awake and watching television. 

“Sorry I'm late back boys – I was going to text you but lost track of time.” The headteacher spoke softly as she entered the room, planting a kiss on the top of each of her sons' heads. “I went out with some of the staff for drinks and ended up staying out longer than I planned.” 

“It's fine Mum, nothing's happened...except Granny called again.” William uttered hesitantly, Caroline raised an eyebrow curiously in response. “She says that she's flying back tomorrow and that you'd better make sure her flat is ready for her.” 

“Fabulous!” She stated sarcastically with a false grin plastered across her face. “I'm off to bed now so make sure you both get enough sleep!”


	9. Chapter 9

Caroline just about managed to get through the next day despite the pounding in her head and the resounding need for more sleep. It wasn't until lunch when she received a phone call from her mother that her day really started to go downhill. 

“Hello?” Caroline answered the phone, holding the receiver lazily to her ear. 

“Caroline, it's me.” Celia responded in a dull tone. “I just got in, I don't know how you expect me to live in this flat with all these boxes sitting on the floor! Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that I've arrived and I'll be joining you for dinner.”

“Well it's all your stuff – I don't know where you want things putting do I?! I'm not doing anything for dinner – Lawrence is going to a friend's house and William's with his study group so I was just going to have a sandwich or something.” Caroline explained to her mother. “You'll have to sort something out for yourself.”

“Oh charming, I get back after two months in another country and I've got to make my own dinner after a 2 hour flight! I'll see you later on then!” Celia exclaimed sharply down the phone and Caroline rolled her eyes. 

“I don't know what time I'll be in – I think there's some stuff I have to get sorted out here before I can come home. I'll see you later anyway – bye bye.” Caroline replied coolly before putting down the phone and rising to head out for her lunch. 

Kate left her classroom soon after the bell had rung, making her way down the street to the same café as yesterday in the hope she might bump in to Caroline there.

After ordering her coffee and sandwich, the young woman turned to scan the available seats when she noticed her boss – sat alone in the corner, looking out of the window with her hand rested against her mug. 

“Alright if I join you?” Kate questioned shyly, watching as Caroline fell out of her daydream and turned her head to meet the young woman's gaze. 

“Sure.” Caroline responded, offering the seat opposite her. “Sorry, I didn't think to ask if you wanted to join me. I'm having a god awful day and I didn't want to inflict that on you.” 

“You alright, Caroline?” The young woman sat down before continuing. “Well stupid question really but...you know what I mean.”

“I'm fine I just...do my best not to inflict my problems on people that have no reason to care.” Caroline responded in a self-deprecating tone. 

“I have a reason to care. There, now you can inflict all you like!” Kate replied, smiling in the hopes to get a reaction from her obviously saddened friend. 

“My mother – she's decided to come home for the first time in months and she's going to spend the whole time asking me about how my dating is going and if I've found anyone new. She's fixated on me getting re-married and just generally controlling every aspect of my life.” Caroline explained, staring deeply in to her coffee cup. “It's worse since my father passed away because she used to be able to boss him around but now I'm stuck listening to her complain about everything.”

“I'm sorry...about your Dad. And your Mum I suppose...why does she care so much about your dating life, if you don't mind me asking?” Kate asked, sipping at the hot beverage between her hands.

“She thinks that I'm still not over John...which is entirely ridiculous considering I left him. The only reason I haven't done any serious dating is because I haven't been looking very hard.” 

“I can stay and discuss lesson plans after school if you want a reason to stick around.” Kate offered and she could see an obvious change in Caroline's expression as she spoke, a look of relief and gratitude spread across her face.

The two teachers headed back towards the school after another half-an-hour or so to repare for their last lessons of the day. Caroline was teaching A-Level Chemistry which wasn't too much of a hindrance to her and Kate had her free in which she was tutoring Lawrence. 

Kate was sat at her desk when the young boy walked in just a few moments after the bell had gone – he was holding a small pile of books which appeared to be the languages textbooks. 

“Hello Lawrence – pleased you could make it. So, what do you fancy? Spanish, German or French?” Kate asked, smiling amicably as the student took a seat close to the front of the classroom.

“Spanish is hardest so I'd like to get some extra time in on that first.” Lawrence responded softly, re-adjusting his books on the table. 

“You know the easiest way to pick up a language is to speak it – so how about we just have a conversation in Spanish...about normal stuff.” There was a look of worry in the young boy's eyes as she spoke. “Don't worry, you can use the dictionary as much as you like – it just gets you in to all the right habits and it means I can correct your mistakes as you make them rather than later on.” 

“Eso suena muy bien, senora.” Lawrence replied confidently. 

The hour went by quickly and Kate could already tell that progress had been made – not necessarily in his ability, but in his attitude to learning. They had agreed that she would not be telling Caroline about the extra tutoring unless for any reason it became necessary.  
Kate let the pupil go a few minutes early so he had time to go to his locker before his friends left. It pleased her to know that Caroline's children were shaping up to be such nice boys – it seemed that she had put herself in a good position to make steady roots in the area. 

Caroline waited until her class had put away their equipment and then sent them off, ready to relax a little and forget about the presence of her mother for a short while.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just out of curiosity, does anyone know why the entire fandom has taken to either calling Kate's mum Grace or the McElliot baby Grace?

“Hey, how was chemistry?” Mckenzie asked as she heard the door open behind her. 

“Dull and uneventful, how was paperwork?” Caroline retorted cheekily – walking over to take a seat in one of the many chairs dotted around the classroom. 

“Funny!” Kate replied sarcastically, giggling at the apparently improved mood of her boss. “Feeling better I see. All I have is some basic marking to do so want to chat while I work if you have nothing else to do?” 

“Sounds good to me.” Caroline felt her mobile vibrate in her pocket and pulled it out to see the message. “Oh crap.”

“What, Caroline? Are you alright?” Kate asked frantically, aware of the distress in her friend's expression and tone. 

“I'm fine but...well...it seems that your little secret has somehow found it's way around the school.” Caroline explained gently with a grave and hesitant tone. 

The blonde had known that Michael would hit below the belt sometimes but this was a whole new level of inappropriateness. As if he would use someone's own personal life as ammunition in an argument – he was such an immature child. 

“Well, that's going to start a fire blazing!” Kate responded, trying to hide her laughter behind a stern look but failing miserably – Caroline looked at her confused by how she could be so calm in the situation. “I don't care who knows about my sexuality – it's not like it's looked down on and we don't seem to have any homophobic bigots here that are going to judge me for it. Kids will be kids but they'll get over it.”

“I suppose Kate but he should never have gone spreading your personal information around school! I know I'd be absolutely raging if it happened to me – he didn't have the right to do that. You can take actions against him if you like, I'd support you if you felt the need.” Caroline responded softly, looking down at her phone screen worriedly. 

The languages teacher shook her head gently as she scanned over sheets of paper, adding ticks in the margin occasionally. 

“You'd probably feel different if you had something to hide Caroline.” Kate breathed out quietly, not taking her eyes off the test in front of her. 

“That's the thing Kate...I do.” The blonde replied, watching as the taller woman raised her head just slightly in curiosity as if to say 'I'm listening...' “I've been...the other way inclined...since I was a teenager but I never told anyone. Apart from my mother once and obviously my ex – neither of which I have spoken to about it in over 20 years.”

There was hesitance in Caroline's voice as she spoke – she had never really allowed herself to come to terms with the fact that she was a lesbian. It was just something she had put to the back of her mind in order to get on with her life normally...she'd had no reason to tell Kate, yet she had and it felt odd that she'd done that without thinking it through. 

“You mean...you're?” Kate questioned, raising her eyebrows to emphasize her shock slightly. “I would NOT have expected that, you know. Sorry, that sounded rude...it came out wrong.”

“It's fine – it's just...not something that I talk about a lot so erm...maybe forget I said it? Not literally or anything just, this doesn't change anything, right?” Caroline responded reluctantly, like she was trying to stop the words from coming out of her mouth – in response she received a curt nod and a smile that indicated the topic had passed. 

The two settled in to a comfortable conversation for a while, chatting as Kate worked her way through the pile of tests in front of her. When she got to the bottom and looked at the clock, she grinned a little to herself when she realized how long they had been sat there – it was almost 6o'clock already – until she realized the rather pressing implications. 

“Bugger, I told my Mum I'd be home by six to let her in! She's coming over with dinner to see what the house is like – it appears that we both have Mum problems today, I'll have to call a taxi!” The younger woman rushed across to drop the pile on her desk before grabbing her jacket and slipping it on quickly. 

“It's fine – I'll give you a lift, I can get you back faster than a cab anyway.” Caroline rose from her seat, picking up her handbag and starting to make her way towards the door. 

“Sure you don't mind Caroline?” Kate asked purely out of courtesy, knowing there was no point at all. 

“You think I'm in any hurry to get home?” The headteacher retorted cheekily, smirking at her friend. 

The two managed to get back just before six where they found an elderly African woman sat on the front doorstep – Kate opened the passenger side door quickly and slipped out, asking Caroline if she'd come for a moment as she hurried over to the woman presumed to be her mother. 

“Mum, what are you doing? You should've called me!” Kate exclaimed, unlocking the door and helping the older woman inside of the house. “Mum, this is my new boss Caroline and Caroline this is my mother Grace.” 

“It's lovely to meet you Caroline.” The woman said kindly in a deep Nigerian accent, smiling and extending a hand to meet the blonde woman's. “Kate, you didn't tell me we had company – I only brought enough food for the two of us.” 

“Oh no Mum, Caroline can't stay she's having dinner with her own mother tonight.” Kate turned round to face Caroline, feigning silent laughter to tease her friend. “I just need to give her something back.”

Mckenzie quickly grabbed the scarf that was hung over the bannister and passed it to her, giving her a quick squeeze of gratitude and whispering words of good luck in her ear before showing her out.


	11. Chapter 11

“So Kate, you've been here almost a month – has anyone caught your eye yet?” Grace questioned teasingly, nibbling on the piece of chicken at the end of her fork. “I see your new boss is quite pretty, any intentions there?” 

“Mum! I've known her a total of three days and I don't think she's even a lesbian! I mean she has kids for goodness sake.” Kate lied a little, only so that her mother wouldn't get fixated on the idea of the two of them getting together though – so hypothetically it was a white lie. 

“Mm...you'd better be keeping me up to date about this type of thing, Kate. You know I won't appreciate it if you turn up on my door one day saying you're engaged or something!” Her Mum retorted slyly, knowing full well that the young woman couldn't last a week without telling her mum everything. “So, how are you liking the area?”

“Yeah, it seems nice enough – I haven't really seen too much of it to be quite honest. I was busy with unpacking and now I'm busy with work.” Arching back in her chair, Kate took a sip of her wine before continuing. “How many nights were you planning to stay, just so I know?” 

“Oh, just tonight I think – I'll come and meet you for lunch if you have the time and then I can head back in the afternoon.” Grace suggested kindly, taking up the last forkful of salad from her plate and chewing on it casually. 

“That's fine with me – I should be able to do lunch and I know a place right near the school that's nice.” Kate responded as she stood up and took the two plates towards the kitchen. “Alright with Caroline joining us?” 

Her mother gave her a large nod but when she turned to the sink she was unaware of the knowing smirk spread across the Nigerian woman's plump cheeks. 

The two of them settled in to a relaxed evening – chatting over wine and watching awful week night television. This was what they had done almost every night when she lived near home and nothing had changed. 

Meanwhile, Caroline was sat watching television with her boys and chatting about how school was. William was beginning to get nervous as he started out his revision plan for his first set of GCSEs in just a few months. Luckily her Mother had gone back to her own flat early after an 'exhausting' day of travelling.

“Is it alright for me to stay at Dad's this weekend? He says he'll pick me up from school on Friday if you're okay with it.” Lawrence stated hopefully, looking to his mother with pleading eyes and in response William scoffed at his naivete – as the older of the two, Will had been the one to understand what was happening and why. 

“Of course – he's your Dad. You can visit him whenever you like Lawrence. Just don't get your hopes up because you know what happened last time.” Caroline spoke with all of the false candor she could muster, trying not to sound spiteful. 

“Yeah but that was because of his publisher, plus he asked me this time which means he obviously knows he has the time off.” Lawrence retorted trying to combat the disdain in his mother's voice and defend his father. 

“I was going to ask if you had any plans anyway because I think I'm going out on Saturday – I trust Will to stay here alone but you however I'm not quite sure about...” Caroline teased trying to lighten the somewhat tense mood. 

Will smiled softly when he heard his Mum say she had plans – ever since his Dad had left, she'd given up on having a social life and it was apparent in the way she was living. 

“Who with?” Lawrence asked nosily and William rolled his eyes emphatically across at him. 

“Miss Mckenzie from school – she only moved here a few weeks back so she hasn't had much chance to get out of the house.” Caroline responded with a smile on her face, neither of the boys would ever suspect that it was even slightly more than friendship because she had never given them a hint to make them believe it. 

“Oh god...she's a good teacher though! She's cool, people like her! It'll ruin her reputation if people finds out she's been hanging around with the headteacher!” Lawrence replied with a sour face, picking at some loose stitching on the arm of the couch. 

“Charming! Thank you for informing me of how not cool I am Lawrence and if you want her to keep her cool factor then don't tell anyone.” Caroline tapped at her temple sarcastically, giggling slightly at how her son had just called a teacher 'cool'. Never in all of her years of maternity, had Caroline Elliot expected to her child compliment a teacher. 

“She seems nice Mum, I like her. She's given us all the option to do extra towards our coursework which I thought was good of her, seeing as though it's out of her own time.” William added in, smiling at his mother as he finished off his cup of tea. 

Caroline heard her phone make the text tone on the table across the room, she took the opportunity to collect the three empty mugs from the coffee table – carrying them and placing them down in the sink before picking up her phone. 

'Free for lunch @ that cafe tomorrow? With my Mum? Please don't leave me alone with her!' The text was from an unsaved number but Caroline assumed it was Kate as nobody else had access to her phone number that would speak in such a manner – she had a hazy memory of giving her mobile number to her last night while they'd been chatting.

'After your cheek today?! I'll have to think about it Miss Mckenzie :P' She saved the phone number under Kate's name and walked back over to the couch to sit down. 

Lawrence was engrossed in the show that was on but William noticed the ridiculous smile she was wearing as she looked at her phone. Little to his mother's knowledge – he'd had his suspicions for a number of years...he'd never asked her about because it never bothered him or became relevant.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Caroline was woken by Celia storming in at 6AM asking if they could meet for lunch near the school. 

William and Lawrence both got up earlier than usual although not out of choice – there was no apology, not even a fake one for waking the entire house just to find out something so trivial. 

“Mum, I already have plans for lunch today but you're welcome to come round for dinner tonight – I'd say I'll do lunch tomorrow but I've got a meeting running straight through so I'll be eating on the go.” Caroline said in a calm and collected tone, determined not to get in to an argument when she didn't have the energy or thinking capacity to come up with any good quality responses. 

“Fine! Who are you having lunch with today anyway? Can't I come along?” Celia questioned with a look of frustration. 

“No, I'm sorry Mum. You can't just expect me to drop everything whenever you have time to fit me in to your oh-so-busy schedule.” Caroline shouted, slamming down her flask furiously as she made her coffee. 

“Oh okay then Caroline! Just spend months complaining that I don't make the effort to see you then blow me off when I do!” Celia narrowed her eyes spitefully before walking out of the door and storming off to her flat. 

Caroline took her time getting ready in the knowledge that she had more time than usual. Kate didn't have the same luxury and was busy trying to make herself look respectable before she left – Grace was up early, strolling around the house and getting ready at a leisurely pace which her daughter envied. 

Both women arrived at school around the same time, diving in head first – Kate had the pleasure of teaching Lawrence's class again first lesson and they all had a lovely hour speaking in French. Luckily that was the easiest language to teach because most children start learning the basics in primary school whereas everything else is seen as less important until they move up. 

Caroline was doing checks during the morning and poked her head in on the class briefly to see how it was going. The blonde was pleased with what she saw, satisfied that the new staff member was living up to her reputation both as a talented educator and as a new favourite with the kids. 

“Passez une bonne journee Madam Elliot” The class recited as Caroline exited the room and she grinned at the progress Kate had made over such a short period of time. 

The morning went by quickly and lunch time was approaching swiftly – Caroline busied herself so that she didn't have to think about what was going to happen. She felt an overwhelming sense of nervousness even though she had no need to impress Kate's mother – it was something she had always done though, she was so paranoid about the impression she made on people and had been ever since she was a child. 

“Hey there, you decided whether you're coming or not?” Caroline turned around to see Kate, she hadn't even heard the bell ring but obviously it must have. 

The brunette was already clad in a large coat and was holding her leather handbag – Caroline grabbed her own and made her way towards the door with a sly grin. The two of them walked together up to the cafe, Kate had already given her mother the address so there wasn't much chance of her getting lost between the taxi and the front door. 

As the two of them walked through the door, Kate headed for the counter where she ordered her meal before walking towards the table where she could see her mother sitting. Caroline copied her actions and stood a few steps away for a moment before her friend ushered her forward. 

“Caroline, Mum – you met briefly yesterday.” Kate stared intensively, switching her glare between Caroline and the empty seat. The blonde smirked before sitting down gently and uttering a quiet hello. 

The three of them sat and talked over dinner, Caroline was quiet and reserved but eventually allowed herself to become involved in the conversation.   
“So Caroline...think Kate will last long at this school of yours? I looked at it online and it has quite the reputation...is she up to standard?” Grace enquired casually, smiling over at the friendly blonde woman. 

“Oh more than! She's a brilliant teacher and the kids have already taken a liking to her – you should be proud, I'm very impressed with her work so far.” Caroline responded cheerily, before letting a smirk wash over her cheeks. “Now where's that twenty quid you promised me Kate?” 

The younger woman laughed sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the terrible humour. It was almost the end of lunch so the two teachers had to get going – Kate gave her Mum a hug and a kiss on the cheek, telling her to call her when she arrived home safely. Grace turned to Caroline and gave her a peck on the cheek that made the blonde grin slightly – it was always a relief when the first impressions stage is over. 

“So what do you think? Worse than your Mum?” Kate teased as they walked down the street and Caroline scoffed at her, shaking her head. 

“So funny Miss Mckenzie! Are you sure you aren't a comedian at the weekends?” Caroline mocked, giggling at the immature nature of her friend. “By the way, I can't make it to lunch tonight so I probably won't see you until Saturday if you're still up for it?”

“Yeah sure, see you then.” Kate replied as they went their separate ways, entering the school gates again. 

The rest of the day moved quickly for both of them – Caroline's dinner dragged but it was over soon enough and she could forget that it had happened. 

Both women were in a relaxed mood that carried them through the majority of the next day without hiccups – both of them breezed through their school day and were preparing to leave when both were halted by the same roadblock.


	13. Chapter 13

Lawrence stormed in to his Mum's office angrily, holding back tears that were quickly making their way down his cheeks. Caroline rose to walk over to him quickly and pulled him in to her arms in a maternal hold. 

“He's bailed on me again! He's got a new girlfriend and he says he doesn't want to scare her off by having me around!” Lawrence sobbed in to her shoulder hastily, regretting his own faith. 

“I'm sure he'll make it up to you some time – you know what your Dad's like! His intentions are right, he just isn't too good at the parenting thing. We have to cut him some slack, okay?” Caroline hushed him, trying to calm him down – she could take this opportunity to turn him against his father but it would only come back to haunt her later. 

The two of them stood there for a few minutes while the young boy calmed down and regained his composure. Caroline knew that after his already awful day, her son was not going to be pleased with the news she had to tell him. 

“Lawrence darling, I have to stay here – there's some work that has to be done before the weekend so I can't take you home. You can wait for me but I'm going to be quite a while longer...you can catch the bus if you like...or you can call Granny and ask her to come and pick you up?” Caroline offered hesitantly, not looking forward to her son's reaction. 

The teenager raised his head, moaning loudly at the thought of having to deal with his Granny and agreed he would get the bus home. Knowing that he was having a god awful day and that he deserved a treat, Caroline gave him a few extra quid to get something from the shops on his way home. 

“Thank you Mum.” Lawrence stated plainly, giving his Mum another tight hug before heading towards the door. 

Caroline couldn't remember the last time she had heard her younger son say thank you to her with such genuine feeling. After the divorce, she had become the dull parent that was no fun to be around for Lawrence – he always wanted to be with his Dad and she'd been struggling to deal with it but she knew that he would accept sooner or later that she was the parent who had taken control and   
raised him. 

“I'll see you when I get home then sweetheart.” She watched as her son exited the room, hearing him say a polite goodbye to Beverly on his way out. 

She settled down to get on with her work now knowing that she had a reason to get home before dinner – usually the boys could fend for themselves but any mother would feel bad leaving her son in a state like that for too long on his own. 

A few minutes later, Lawrence was sitting on a bench near a bus stop looking particularly frustrated that the bus wasn't going to arrive for another fifteen minutes. 

He didn't see his teacher coming towards him but Kate had noticed him from a hundred yards up the street. It wasn't until she got closer that she saw his upset and became concerned for the welfare of the boy who had confided in her on their first day working together. 

“Lawrence? Is everything okay?” Miss Mckenzie questioned softly, observing the tears still sitting on his cheeks and the redness of his face. She perched on the edge of the bench beside him and gnawed at her upper lip worriedly. “What's wrong?”

“My Dad – I was supposed to be staying with him this weekend but I can't go anymore – he's too busy.” Lawrence replied, huffing deeply in defiance of the way his voice felt as though it was about to break under the weight of his tears. “It's fine I'm used to it...it just annoys me when he promises me he'll do something then changes his mind and comes up with a lame excuse that no one in their right mind would believe.”

At her previous school, there had been a school counsellor but even so Kate was a teacher that a number of students chose to confide in. She liked to think that it was because she was so approachable and made the kids feel comfortable around her but really it was just because she was one of the few that was willing to listen. 

“Have you spoken to your Mum about this? What does she say?” Kate questioned sympathetically, wanting to make sure she wasn't contradicting Caroline in anyway...even unintentionally. 

“I know full well that she wants to say I told you so, and she's right because he's been doing this for years but I don't want to give up on him. I feel like I'm a bad son if I just start treating him like Will does – no matter how much of a prat he is, it doesn't mean he stops being my Dad.” Lawrence replied with spite in his tone. “She tries to keep up his side of the argument because she feels bad turning me against him, I treat her like crap though and I feel bad about it. I guess I'm just annoyed that my Dad doesn't want anything to do with me so I take it out on her.” 

“I'm sure your Mum understands that – she seems like an understanding type of person in general to me. But you can't put in all the effort Lawrence, just because you stop letting your Dad hurt you doesn't mean you shut him out entirely.” Kate spoke softly, pursing her lips gently in between sentences. “By all means leave the door open but leave him to walk through it – it's his job to be your Dad, it's not your job to be his son.”

“Thanks Miss Mckenzie – you're right. Anyway I can see my bus coming, I ought to go...thank you, really.” Lawrence uttered awkwardly, rising from where he was sat to stand by the kerb.


	14. Chapter 14

“Morning, what time do you think you'll be ready?” Caroline called down the phone which was sat on her dresser on speaker phone as she put in her earrings. 

“Well all I have to do is put my shoes and jacket on then I'm ready so leave whenever.” Kate replied coolly. “Thanks for offering to make plans with me by the way, I never get out of the house any more and it's a real treat.” 

“No problem! It's nice to actually have something to do with my weekend for once. I''ll leave in a couple of minutes anyway so see you soon, alright?” The blonde questioned loudly as she finished getting ready. 

“Yeah, see you in a bit. Bye.” She leant over to end the call and picked up her phone before making her way downstairs. Slipping on a thin cardigan as she made her way to the door, Caroline shouted her goodbyes to the boys who were making good use of the XBox and left. 

Kate heard the doorbell ring and hurried downstairs to open it. She was wearing a skater dress and a denim jacket that made her feel like a college student again with some wedged sandals. 

“Hey, ready to go then?” The headteacher had a smile on her face and was wearing more casual clothes than usual. She locked her front door and made her way towards the car happily, pleased with the unusually sunny weather. 

The two women drove in to the town centre and parked the Jeep in a multi-story that was 'close' according to Caroline. 

Kate had no ideas as to where they were or where they were headed – after walking a short distance she found herself stood in a quaint family park with a café stationed in the middle. Nobody that ever met Caroline would think she was the type of person to come to places like this...but it was a pleasant surprise. 

“Best thing to do in Harrogate is enjoy the scenery because it's just about the only half decent thing there is. Want a world-renowned chicken bake?” Caroline suggested with a wink, pointing towards the cafe based in the centre which was surrounded by picnicking benches.

“Sounds good to me, and a bottle of water would be good.” Kate pulled her purse out of her handbag and put it firmly in Caroline's hand. “Take what you need – I'll go grab that bench while it's empty.”

Caroline rolled her eyes and watched the younger woman hurry off to take possession over the only empty bench in view before heading up to get lunch for them both. She'd brought the boys here a lot when they were younger so she felt comfortable – it brought back a lot of fond memories for her. 

Walking towards Kate who appeared to be checking her phone yet again, Caroline took a seat and placed the contents of her overcrowded palms on the table. Kate picked up her purse and opened it to see how much was gone, raising an eyebrow mockingly she looked at her boss. 

“There's not a penny gone, Caroline. How much did it cost?” 

“I can buy lunch for my friend if I want to, now eat and stop checking your phone. Got another admirer have we?” The blonde teased, twisting the cap off her bottle of Pellegrino and taking a sip.

“Oh shush, it's my sister complaining about her boyfriend, nothing new.” Kate responded, rolling at her eyes at the way her phone continued to vibrate against the table. “They're arguing and she thinks the best thing to do is text me about it.”

“The joys of being an only child!” Caroline exclaimed mockingly, taking a bite out of the pastry in front of her. Kate looked at her with lowered eyes and no expression across her face to express her bemusement.

Both women settled down to eat their meals, chatting casually as they ate and sharing a look of suppressed hilarity every time the phone went off. Kate insisted on buying the pair of them icecream for dessert to make up some of the cost. 

Caroline dragged Kate to the high street because shopping was apparently the only thing she's capable of doing with any skill. They traipsed in and out of shops for over two hours and Elliot spent a small fortune, not fretting in the slightest about it. 

“Don't look at me like that – I've a good income, rich parents and a divorce settlement that fell in my favour. I've money to burn!” Caroline bragged when she saw Kate glaring questionably at the multiple bags along her arms. “Come on, let's find you a nice dress and I'll take you out somewhere fancy for dinner!” 

“Caroline, you may have money to burn! I don't – I haven't even got round to buying a new bloody car yet. Trust me, I've been the same size since I was 15 – I have a LOT of clothes, I'm sure I can find something reasonable.” Kate retorted smugly, rolling her eyes at her friend. 

“I meant I'll pay you twerp! Come on pleaseeeee, I'm having a nice day wasting all of my ex-husbands money on things I don't need – I want to treat my friend! Come on...” Caroline widened her eyes in a plea for sympathy. “You can't say no to this face!” 

“Fine! But I'm paying you back for it when you give me my wages.” Kate summarized in a final plea for some degree of self-righteousness before being dragged in to yet another clothing store.

Eventually Caroline found something satisfyingly pricey that Kate liked and bought it before they headed back towards the car. Kate had no idea that Caroline had been planning to take her out to dinner since the beginning – it was just something that she had always wanted to be able to do with a good friend. 

Kate's jaw dropped when Caroline pulled up outside a large, flashy hotel that looked as though it could resemble the Ritz.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Was thinking about writing this chapter as FULL-ON smut but my writing isn't as well developed in that area and I didn't want to mess around with a perfectly good fic experimenting.

“I can't believe you Caroline! You take me to the poshest hotel in all of Harrogate and then you get so much champagne that I'm seeing two of you!” Kate exclaimed as the pair of them stumbled through the door. “If it wasn't for that nap in the car I think I'd still be seeing double – it seems to have sobered me up a little.”

“Yeah whatever, you're still pissed! It's only half seven, god! I told the boys I wouldn't be back until midnight but I'm still almost entirely sober which is sad.” Caroline replied, smirking as she flopped back on to the sofa casually.

“I have some wine if you want to play catch up? Although it seems you're just as much fun sober as you are intoxicated.” Kate retorted cheekily, laying down on the couch heavily. 

“How much wine have you bloody well got?”

Half an hour later, Caroline was absolutely legless and Kate was out of wine. Neither of them had the energy to move far enough to buy more so they decided that the alcohol they had in their bloodstream would suffice. 

“You know Caroline, I still can't believe you're a lesbian!” Kate quipped loudly, giggling like a school girl as she spoke. “You don't seem the type.”

“Did you just stereotype lesbians? Because that's very homosexual of you!” The blonde slung back at her with creased eyebrows. “Hang on, I think I said that wrong...”

“No seriously – you're over 25, divorced, two kids, don't seem to be sex-obsessed, and you're attractive.” Kate spouted out, coughing emphatically before continuing. “I deduce that logically you should either be taken or straight!”

“Well Miss Mckenzie, there must be a fault in your calculations because I am a straight up lesbian since the ripe age of 17.” Caroline answered smugly, as though she was showing off her sexuality. 

Kate stood up, staggering slightly and taking a hold of the couch to steady herself before walking around the coffee table to get up and close in Caroline's face until there were mere inches between their noses and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“I don't quite believe you Dr Elliot.” The blonde moved her hands swiftly and took a hold of the collar of Kate's dress, she pulled her forcefully and collided with her directly – lips on lips, tongues clashed quickly and it was horrendously rushed – before pulling apart for air. “Holy shit, I believe you now.”

“Thank you...” Caroline replied, seemingly sobered to some degree. “You are seriously talented by the way.” Her fingers waved indirectly towards Kate's lips, in a failed attempt at a compliment. 

“Oh am I?” Kate questioned in a flirtatious manner, standing up and dusting herself off calmly. “You say the boys aren't expecting you back for hours?” Her eyes flickered towards the door nearest the staircase before falling back to meet Caroline's bright blue ones. 

There was a dash upstairs in a heated, lustful moment – a long, extended, blissful moment – that neither of them really considered. 

Afterwards both women laid in bed, they were acting flirtatiously but both were beginning to sober up already. Both women were entirely lucid within their own minds and knew what had happened – neither was regretting it, the experience had allowed them to realize how much they'd wanted it. For Kate it was less obvious up until this point but Caroline had never become so close with anyone in all her life let alone over the space of a week. 

“Fancy staying the night?” Kate asked softly, looking across to see her boss lying there, looking beautiful in all her naked glory. 

“Sure, I'll text Will and tell him that I'm staying in your spare room because I can't be bothered with getting a cab.” Caroline responded gently, planting a kiss on Kate's palm softly. The brunette didn't question it – who would tell their kids they were gay unless it became necessary for them to know?! ”My head's starting to hurt...that means I'm going to stop being drunk soon right?”

“Yeah, that's the idea.” Kate responded with a smirk, allowing her fingers to glide along Caroline's smooth ribcage. “Just how drunk are you Caroline?”

“I'm sober enough to tell you that I like you and mean it.” The blonde replied in a sceptical tone, knowing that she could always use her drunken state as an excuse. 

“Oh you...like me?” Kate questioned flirtatiously, letting her digits pan out against Caroline's milky flesh. “As much as I like you?” 

Caroline allowed her own hand to cover the younger woman's, intertwining their fingers as she smiled. There was a seriousness in the headteacher's eyes, a deliberateness in her actions, an emphasis in every movement. 

“Probably a lot more...” Caroline replied, placing a kiss on Kate's shoulder between each word. “You make me feel things that I didn't think possible, just by looking at me.”

“Well I assure I can do a lot of looking, but there are much more fun things to be doing with our time.” Kate winked cheekily, bringing her hand up the pale midriff to cup the woman's breast. 

She pulled herself on top of the blonde, running her spare hand through the lustrous hair to rest at the back of her neck. Tugging her closer, their lips met like in a movie – this time it was slow, not rushed – as they allowed skin touch skin. 

The feeling of being so close to someone, both physically and emotionally, had been something that Caroline had started to forget and being with Kate made her feel like she was learning how to feel that all over again. Everything seemed to be amplified and every fibre of her body felt as though it was about to catch fire under her lover's gentle touch. 

Both women found euphoria within the sheets of that bed, there was something magical about the way it felt when they came...something entirely new.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know...and I'm so sorry but it wouldn't really be McElliot if there weren't any near misses. Don't worry, everybody knows I can't keep them apart for very long.

The next morning, Kate woke up in Caroline's hold which was keeping her tight against the older woman's body. She inched around carefully so that she was facing the blonde and smiled at her sleeping form – her forefinger slid gently down the side of her jaw before falling to rest lightly at the curve of her breast. 

Kate studied the way her collarbones jutted out strongly, the way her skin tone varied, the natural flush of her cheeks even as she slept. She put her finger to her lips and kissed it gently before turning it to place it softly on Caroline's own. 

“Are you watching me sleep?” The headteacher questioned with her eyes still closed. 

“Well I was, you've stopped me in my tracks now Miss Elliot.” The brunette retorted slyly, moving her hand to rest on Caroline's cheek. 

“I'm awfully sorry but I have a rugby match to get to – I can't sleep my entire way no matter how much I'd like to.” The blonde slowly opened her eyes, wary of the offensive light seeping through the blinds. 

“Can't I take you hostage instead?” Kate pleaded sarcastically. “That sounds like a much better idea.” 

Caroline rolled her eyes, getting up and beginning to slip on her clothes hurriedly when she saw the clock. Finding time to get home and change quickly was her first priority because turning up to a public event where there would be parents from the school in clothes she had been wearing two days in a row was entirely unacceptable. 

She was too stressed about covering up what had happened to really consider it, as her mind started to clear and the older woman began to see sense – she knew that she would have to figure out an excuse. 

“I'm going to be late so I better go, I'll call you or something when I get a chance...thanks for last night.” Caroline replied softly as she pulled her blouse over her head and made her way to the door. 

Kate grabbed a gown and followed her downstairs, suspicious that it was more than a lack of time stopping Caroline from paying proper attention to her. As Caroline slipped her heels on, the brunette wrapped her arms around her waist just to be wriggled away from awkwardly. 

“I really have to go Kate.” Caroline spoke in a stern tone. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

The languages teacher watched her walk out of the door with narrowed eyes, Kate was curious more than anything...as to why she was hiding from herself more than other people.

The rest of the morning went quickly for Caroline as she managed to arrive just in time for the match though her margin for error was non-existent. She watched Lawrence's team play and applauded when they won though she was paying no attention to what happened – at the end of the match, Lawrence and Angus came running towards her. 

Knowing that William was absolutely fine to stay home alone for as long as necessary, and in the knowledge that Lawrence was going to be at Angus' until after dinner – Caroline braced herself then dialled the number. 

“Hello?” She heard Kate's voice at the other end of the phone but she didn't quite let herself accept entirely that it was the new teacher. 

“It's Caroline...erm.” She stumbled over her words, having forgotten how to construct proper sentences. “I noticed that things between us this morning were a bit tense and...I get it, we were drunk, we said things we didn't mean, it would probably be better for both of us if we pretended that it never happened.” 

Kate had to hold back from saying something she might regret, no matter what happened she needed to hang on to her job. Feeling like an idiot for letting herself get involved with someone who could jeopardize her career and livelihood – Kate knew that it was probably the best thing to do seeing as Caroline obviously regretted it. 

“Fine, if that's what you want then of course.” Kate responded calmly, tempted to throw her mobile across the room but knowing it would do no good. 

When she got off the phone, she didn't really know what to think or what to feel. It was just something she would have to get over...although that would have been a lot easier this time yesterday. 

All of the time that they spent together over the past few days had made her become unbelievably close with a woman she barely knew and it sent shivers down her spine to know that she had become so reliable on a woman who had just let her down so easily. 

When Caroline arrived home, she felt as though she might cry – not necessarily because of Kate in particular, just because she was tired of not being able to admit who she was as a person. In reality, that was a lie – it was purely because of Kate. 

Pulling out a bunch of old photo albums that she kept hidden from the boys under her bed she allowed herself to reminisce – it became depressing quickly when she realized that she could have been so much happier. There were no regrets in her past because even though she had spent years of her life married to John, it had given her Will and Lawrence who were her pride and joy and that meant more to her than anything else 

Neither of the two women had a very pleasant afternoon either – William spent the entire time revising for his exams so Caroline had no real need to put on a front until Lawrence arrived home. Kate spent the day moping around the house feeling sorry for herself and all she could do to get rid of that feeling was eat...and eat...and drink...and eat more. 

Even through the struggling with their own emotions, both women were more concerned about the fact they would have to face one another in just a few hours. Neither wanted to avoid the other so they would most likely end up having lunch together as usual – a particularly awkward experience for them both no doubt.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based loosely around events of S2E6...

The school week started off tense, both women did their best to act normal but there was an awkwardness in the atmosphere. Neither wanted to acknowledge the fact that they'd been speaking less so they got on as usual, meeting for lunch like they had planned. 

Caroline didn't want to deal with the extra stress of falling out with Kate, John had called and told her that Lawrence could come to stay for a couple of nights to make up for the weekend. The blonde knew that he would only disappoint his son again, but he was deserving of the chance if nothing more. 

Lawrence seemed pleased more than anything, bragging to William that he was right about Dad all along. No-one wanted to upset him, nobody had the nerve anymore so they let him go on believing that he could have a proper relationship with his Dad. 

Kate wasn't having a much better time at home, her sister had been calling her every night complaining that she wanted to break up with him but she didn't have the guts to do it. The entire Mckenzie family knew that sooner or later, the relationship would come to an abrupt ending. 

“So...how did the match go?” Kate questioned placidly, slicing in to the silence that was laced with discomfort. 

“Alright, we won at least.” Caroline replied simply. “I can't do lunch tomorrow...I'm at a meeting down south and I'm probably going to stay the night because it's a long way to drive back.” 

“The boys staying with your Mum then?” Kate asked faux-curiously with an exaggerated grin across her face. 

“Will is, Lawrence is staying at his Dad's.” The blonde answered spitefully, knowing that she would have to leave her youngest in the hands of his very incapable father. 

The two continued to converse forcibly, trying to break the thick layer of ice that had formed between them. Elliot took the opportunity to knuckle down with her work again – feeling as though she had gained something in the respect that she suddenly had all of this free time that she felt she ought to appreciate and use.

Walking in to work on Tuesday morning, Kate felt slightly uncomfortable without Caroline present – in the short 48 hours since they had...distanced themselves, she had realized how close she had quickly become with her boss. 

Meanwhile Caroline's day was frantic – her car had broken down on her way to the meeting so she ended up getting a taxi the entire way there. Celia hadn't been in a very good mood since she arrived home so she wasn't too happy when Caroline called her to ask about her staying home with Will. 

“Morning Kate, you alright?” The kind-hearted secretary asked when she saw the new teacher walking towards the staff room. 

“Fine thanks Beverly, enjoying your day?” Kate responded smiling at the petite woman. 

“Ha, I wish! Caroline's car broke down so she doesn't think she'll be back in time to come in tomorrow either. She's left me no instructions so I am trying to single-handedly run a school.” Beverly replied looking flustered, re-adjusting the large pile of papers in her arms. “The struggle is real.” 

That short conversation left Kate concerned – it wasn't as though she had any right to text Caroline and see if she was okay so now she would be worried until the headteacher came back to work. The brunette found herself stressing for the entire day, leaving the students to get on alone while she sat at her desk and stared in to space. 

Lawrence noticed that there was something wrong, he'd always been a talented empath but he was too excited to delve deeper in to it. Surely it could wait until he was back at home with nothing better to do. 

The day passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened – Lawrence was picked up by his father, William headed to work, Caroline went back to her hotel room and Kate got down to some marking before going home. The only person who hadn't stuck to the plan was Celia...she went out to dinner and drinks with a few of her friends. 

Caroline didn't realize until she went to text William that she couldn't find her mobile, she realized that she must have left it in the taxi but she couldn't call for them to drop it off at 11o'clock at night...it would keep until the morning. 

John went out after his girlfriend, not wanting to argue in front of his young and impressionable son but all it did was unnerve Lawrence so he pulled out his mobile from his pocket. 

“Will? It's Lawrence, call me back when you get a chance please. I guess you're still at work right now. Bye.” That was the first call he made, next on the list was his Granny – who also didn't answer to either her mobile, her flat or their house. 

“Mum? Why aren't you answering your phone? When you get a chance can you call me back? Cheers, bye.” Lawrence finished before hanging up the phone – he tapped at his knee anxiously, not knowing who else there was to call. 

Walking towards the cupboard and finding the newest copy of the Yellow Pages which luckily had been released just a fortnight ago – he skimmed through the various letters trying to inspire a spark of genius in his mind. 

William arrived home at around midnight after working longer than he was supposed and went straight to bed without checking his phone or the house's. Celia got in at around half past and she was tipsy so fell straight in to her daughter's bed without bothering to check on her grandson. 

Caroline didn't bother stressing about not having her phone because her mother could easily find out what hotel she was staying at if there was anything urgent – and really what was the likelihood of anything happening while she was away?


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning Caroline woke at 6:00am and called the taxi company, she was going to have to get a taxi back to Harrogate anyway so it wasn't as though it was a wasted trip for them to bring it to her. 

After three hours in the back of a stuffy cab, she arrived straight at school before second period had even started. Everything seemed to be going okay fine, she caught up with Beverly who seemed pleased to have her back and got on with her day. 

Kate hurried over to her office as soon as she'd dismissed her year ten's for break and entered the room with a quick, unnecessary knock on the door. 

“Caroline! Thank god you're back!” Kate said, relieved to see the blonde sat in her office chair but the stress not entirely gone from her face.

“Kate, are you okay? What's happened?” The headteacher rose to walk over to her and take a hold of her arm gently, tugging her softly towards the two cushioned chairs sat beside one another at her desk. 

“Erm...this is going to sound really bad but I swear it isn't.” Kate replied cautiously, still trying to catch her breath from running almost the entire length of the school. “Lawrence stayed at my house last night.”

Caroline's eyes widened in shock, blinking rapidly as she leant back and away from the brunette. Narrowing her bright blue eyes, she looked curiously at her colleague as though she was searching desperately for an explanation in her expression alone. 

“John went out and left Lawrence alone for god knows how long, he was worried – he called you a few times, tried William and your mother but none of you answered. So he got my home number from the phone book and asked me to pick him up, so I got a taxi. I was trying to get a hold of you for ages but you weren't answering and I thought it was better that he was safe at mine than anywhere else.” Kate explained, flustered with the relief of having the weight off of her shoulders. “I was going to take him back to your house but I assumed your mother and William must have been asleep if they weren't answering the phones so I let him stay in my spare room.”

“I'm going to kill John! And my mother for that matter!” Caroline shouted, standing up to walk across to the phone with anger in the way she strutted around the desk. “I'm so sorry Kate, I just need to find out what's going on at home. Erm...meet me for lunch and we can talk properly?”

Kate was fine after that, knowing that Caroline hadn't taken it badly was enough to calm her down. She taught Lawrence's class and actually allowed herself to interact with the class like she ought to. Every now and again she would catch the young Elliot boy's eye and he would smile at her slightly before getting back to his work. 

“Kate, ready to go?” Caroline asked as she entered the languages classroom – knowing that this was possibly the only chance she had to properly reconcile with Kate.

The blonde hated herself for what she had done, she felt as though she had led Kate on even though she really did feel all the things she had allowed the younger woman to believe. If only she was more comfortable with her own emotions, everything in her life would be an awful lot easier for everybody around her. 

“Yeah, let's get going then.” Kate responded with the first proper smile she had given to Caroline since that morning. 

After arriving at the café and ordering their meals, the two women took a seat at the table which they had sat at every day for the past week and a half. 

“Did you get through to your ex-husband, what did he say?” Kate questioned concernedly, looking over to the headteacher with compassion in her eyes. 

“Well he didn't get to do much talking to be quite honest. It was more of me yelling down the phone at him about how he needed to become a better father or he may as well give up all claims to the title.” Caroline replied, looking down ashamedly at her mug of coffee. “The conversation with my mother wasn't much better...she went out and got drunk with her friends – she didn't get back until gone midnight!” 

“Oh Caroline! I'm so sorry, I feel terrible for you but at least I think Lawrence is okay, although it might be best if you have a chat with him about his Dad...especially after Friday.” Kate answered plainly, watching the look on her boss' face change as she realized what she had said and all she could think was 'Oh, bugger!'

“How do you know about Friday?” Caroline questioned, creasing her forehead as she spoke. 

“Ermm...I found Lawrence crying at the bus stop after I left work. He told me what had happened and I sort of deduced that was why you didn't get on particularly well with John anymore.” Kate responded with a shy, tilted beginning of a smile on her face. 

“Thank you for last night Kate, I can't believe I didn't think to say that before but really...the fact that you actually cared enough to take a chunk out of your own evening to make sure he was okay when you don't even know him, it means a lot.” Caroline spoke softly, reaching a hand across the table to meet Kate's, looking at the contrast between their skin tones. 

“He's your son Caroline – I would've done it for a complete stranger but knowing what it would've done to you if he wasn't in safe hands for the night, I did what I had to do. It would've weighed so heavily on my mind if I'd just told him to get a taxi back to yours.” Kate didn't allow herself to grab too tightly to the thin and pale fingers of the older woman, not letting herself move too quickly. 

“And I need to apologize for Sunday...I should never have said those things to you. I mean, I guess I got scared but I need you to know that...I don't regret anything.”


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's longer than usual because I got carried away. 
> 
> Go and follow my tumblr where the rest of my McElliot feels end up - http://fuck-yeah-sarah-lancashire.tumblr.com/

“Want to come over for dinner? We can talk properly, no wine.” Kate offered shyly as they walked through the corridor together on their way out of the school building. 

“Sure but I'll have to go home first to have a quick chat with Lawrence, alright?” Caroline replied before unlocking her car door. “I'd offer you a lift but I've got the boys in the car and you'd probably end up stuck at mine for half an hour while I changed.”

“Yeah sure, food will be ready about six or so.” Kate answered softly before walking briskly towards the school gates. 

Caroline watched as her two sons traipsed lazily across the car park and climbed in to the Jeep without a word to her. Trying to start up a light conversation in the car, she asked them both how their days had been but received one word answers. 

When they all arrived home, the headteacher nipped upstairs to get changed out of her work clothes and in to something a little more comfortable to go around to Kate's in. The blonde took the time to look a little nicer than usual, she wanted to put in the extra effort for once. After making sure she looked presentable, Caroline walked downstairs to find her youngest playing the Xbox alone. 

“Lawrence, I want to talk to you.” She stated simply and took a seat beside him on the couch, facing him as he paused his game and veered his head sideways to face her. “About last night.”

“It's okay Mum. Dad already text me but I'm not replying to him.” Lawrence responded, glancing at his mother without emotion. 

“Not about that...I'm leaving him to fix his own mess. I just...why did you think to call Miss Mckenzie?” Caroline questioned, resting a hand on her son's forearm gently. 

“Oh ermm...well there's no other proper family and me and Angus had an argument so I couldn't call his house. It was either her or Mr. Dobson and I don't fancy spending a night with him.” Lawrence talked slowly, searching his Mum's face for a reaction. “I know you and her have been chatting and that so I guess she was like the teacher I thought of first because I know you get on with her.”

“Are you alright? I mean, it didn't scare you or anything right?” The boy gave a short and reassuring nod. “And I'm so sorry I didn't answer my phone, I left it in a taxi.” She planted a small kiss on Lawrence's forehead but rising from where she was sat and rubbing his shoulder affectionately. 

“Will! I'm going out for a while, if Granny comes round tell her to go home until she learns to be a responsible adult.” Caroline called up the stairs before putting on a pair of heels and getting ready to leave. “I'm leaving money by the door so you can order takeaway when you get hungry!”

Kate saw her walking up the drive through the kitchen window, she filled the kettle and set it to boil then made her way towards the door as the bell rang. Smiling at the sight of Caroline on her doorstep with a bouquet of flowers before pulling open the door. 

“Hi.” The brunette uttered happily. 

“Hi.” Caroline responded, passing the teacher the flowers she was holding. “For yesterday night.”

The two of them walked in to the kitchen and chatted lightly while the dinner cooked – Caroline was twenty minutes early but dinner wasn't far behind her. Kate served up the spaghetti on to plates and sat down opposite her boss. 

“So...how are things with Lawrence?” Kate enquired kindly as she began eating. 

“Good, he seems settled. I think he's just grateful that you answered the phone to be quite honest.” Caroline replied gratefully, taking the first forkful from her plate and eating it. “This is brilliant Kate!”

“Thanks...I erm, are you okay? I mean I know you didn't really find out until afterwards but...still stressful to hear about right?” 

“I just feel guilty more than anything, knowing that he was safe calmed me down but I still feel terrible that it was you. The fact that I can rely on you more than my own family is worrying.” Caroline responded candidly, trying her best to relay the meaning accurately. 

“It's the least I could do, you've been such a good friend to me recently.” Kate replied easily. 

“Yeah erm...about that Kate. The 'friend' thing – I kinda, fucked up on Sunday and I'm sorry. I just...haven't done this before.” Caroline uttered hesitantly. “I said some things that I really didn't mean and I just wanted you to know that, I like you and I get it that I jumped overboard but I'll be waiting at the docks if you can forgive me.”

“Caroline, you were right on Sunday. Well not entirely but...we were extremely drunk and we did say things that we probably didn't mean to. If we're doing this, then we do it properly – take it slow, I can already tell that you aren't ready for a relationship so let's forget Sunday happened and start over because I like you too. A lot.” Kate put down her cutlery and took a deep breath as she swallowed. 

“That sounds good Kate because...in public I'm not a lesbian. My friends, my family, my colleagues, none of them have the first idea about this so it would mean a lot of changes in my life – I wouldn't want to put everything in my life on the line for something and then mess it up.” The blonde smiled as she spoke, elated to know that she had another chance to fix things.

The two women eased in to a comfortable conversation, chatting casually as they ate their meals. It arrived at almost eight o'clock and Caroline realized that she should probably be heading home soon. 

She rose from her seat and announced that she was going to have to leave, grinning across the table at Kate. 

“Of course, I'll let you out.” Kate responded pleasantly, standing up to walk towards the front door. They arrived by the door and Caroline turned to say goodbye. 

She leant in slowly to receive a reaction from the younger woman, moving again until they were impossibly close and seeing no clues in the deep hazel eyes irises that met hers. Lingering there, she deterred in her mind whether it was a good idea to close the gap but in that moment, Kate did the thinking for her. 

When their lips met it was though they finally found their purpose in the world. Caroline had never felt so incredible when kissing someone, it was like something lighted a room in her mind and let her see the beauty of the world for the first time in forty years. Kate pulled away after an immeasurable amount of time and leant to whisper in Caroline's ear. 

“Slowly.” There was a flirtatious tone in her voice that set the blonde's senses alight. Caroline turned to leave, smirking as she left the house and walked away in the knowledge that her life was going to change considerably over the next few months. 

Now all she had to do was truly win the young and confident woman over.


	20. Chapter 20

The two women settled back in to what had become their normal routine of having lunch together every day and meeting up on weekends whenever they could. They started dating like any normal couple would except considerably more carefully in public situations – Caroline was still terrified in every meaning of the word. 

“Shit, Michael!” Caroline's eyes widened as she caught sight of the man stood a few metres behind Kate. 

“Caroline, calm down! We're two friends having coffee, he probably won't even notice us.” Kate replied reassuringly, watching as the blonde rolled her eyes before grinning obtusely and waving behind Kate. 

“Kate, Caroline. What are you two doing here?” The smarmy git questioned in a badly-faked tone of friendship. 

“Not much, just drinking coffee. Who's your friend?” Caroline asked, looking the skinny, blonde woman beside him up and down. 

“Oh this is Felicity, my fiancée. I think you two are the only ones from work to ever lay eyes on this beauty.” Michael answered slyly, looking at the pair of women with a wide grin. 

“Yes, we've heard so much about her! It's nice to put a face to a name finally but really we ought to be going – our car park ticket is going to run out soon.” Kate added in kindly, rising from where she was sat which prompted Caroline to follow. 

“Oh alright then, bye.” Michael finished awkwardly before stalking off in another direction. 

Kate and her boss waited until the couple were a reasonable distance away from them before they began to laugh hysterically. After all the effort he had gone to get a date with Kate, the cheeky bugger was engaged!

Caroline giggled gently, pursing her lips to hold in what little dignity she had left – the brunette rested against her date's arm to steady herself as she calmed down. Still sniggering even as they began to walk towards the car park. 

“Oh my god! I can't believe him!” Kate exclaimed, smirking as she flopped in to the passenger seat of the Jeep. “That's something I think we definitely ought to inform the rest of the staff of.”

The blonde shook her head, grinning across at her girl to see her smiling back with a euphoric glaze over her eyes. Why couldn't every moment be as simple and happy as this one?

“Can I try something out on the piano when we get back to yours?” Caroline questioned hopefully, shooting her best puppy dog eyes at Kate. 

“Only if I get to hear, and don't give me those big blue eyes Dr. Elliot!” Kate retorted teasingly, rolling her tongue over her teeth. 

When the two arrived back at the modest town house, Kate unlocked the front door and slipped off her jacket before sliding it casually over the bannister. 

Caroline walked straight through to the front room and sat at the piano, pulling the notepad that she had left there towards her and beginning to write. She held it close to her chest defensively, knowing that Kate would walk in soon and try to catch a glimpse of it. 

“Sudden bout of inspiration perhaps?” Kate questioned as she walked through to take a seat on the couch, rolling her eyes at the blonde. 

“Something like that.” Caroline didn't take her eyes off the page, scrawling down words quickly. 

After about ten minutes of focused silence, the headteacher raised her head and placed the notepad face down against the music rack and beginning to run her fingers hesitantly along the keys with her eyes closed like a tarot reader trying to sense which was the right card. 

With her fingers comfortably placed, she allowed herself to begin playing gently – creating a basic rhythm she could build upon. Memorizing what she played within her mind so that she could note it down – Kate went to make tea for the both of them and she allowed herself to run through it trying to fit in some of the lyrics she had noted down. 

Caroline had always been someone who took time deliberating how she wanted a piece to sound then if she couldn't perfect within an hour it went down the drain and she started over. Luckily this was almost perfect the first time she tried it, turning her head every few moments to make sure Kate had not entered the room – she concluded an outro for the piece. 

It was short, no more than 90 seconds but she always started out small and expanded upon it over time. Once there were firm foundations she could build for as long as she liked because never had she felt as though she had completed a piece entirely. 

She heard the languages teacher walk back in to the room and turned to see her holding two steaming mugs of tea.   
“Let's hear it then! You said I could.” Kate grinned like a schoolgirl, placing the two mugs on the mantelpiece before taking a seat beside Caroline at the piano. “You can't keep a girl waiting forever.”

“This is different Kate...this is sort of, you kind of inspired this one.” The shy woman uttered hesitantly facing down at the keys.

“Am I your muse, Caroline?” Kate asked with a mildly teasing tone that reverberated softly against the emptiness of the room. “Well I simply must hear it now.” 

Caroline allowed herself to become lost in the moment and started to play, opening her mouth as narrowly as possible so that only the smallest amount of sound escaped. She always wrote her music but she had never failed to play any piece she had written by ear, no matter how long it had been since she wrote it. 

Kate enjoyed the gentle, softened tones of the blonde's voice – it was such a beautiful sound and it had become one of her favourite things to hear. Listening carefully to every note, every word, every crescendo that made up the composition, Kate smiled and closed her eyes to truly appreciate the music. 

When the notes faded and she opened her eyes, she turned to see Caroline gazing back in her direction nervously and she pursed her lips softly before raising a hand to rest against the woman's freckled cheek. Moving at a glacial pace, she leant in and placed a small kiss against the shy blonde's lips to show her candid gratitude. 

“That was beautiful.” The brunette whispered simply as she allowed her fingers to run through the other woman's blonde tresses.


	21. Chapter 21

“I think I should tell my Mum about us.” Kate blurted out randomly over lunch. There was a moment of confused silence between the two of them because the brunette looked up to speak again. “How would you feel about that?” 

“I...erm...well, how would she react, I mean?” Caroline stumbled over words, looking worriedly over at Kate. “Are you...would she be okay with it?”

“Of course, my Mum already knows all about that.” Kate intentionally put emphasis on the taboo that made her the blonde purse her lips awkwardly. “She'd be absolutely okay with it, the question is would you?” 

“Yeah sure, as long as she isn't going to start sending us death threats or anything. I just want you to be happy, I don't want this to damage your relationship with her.” Caroline uttered softly, looking directly across at her partner. “I know that if I told my Mum she'd go ballistic and never let me hear the end of it...that's all.”

Kate bit the inside of her cheek, closing her eyes to calm herself down as she tried to take in what she had just heard. Even though she was coming to terms with Caroline's nervousness, it still broke her heart to see Caroline so worried about things that felt so easy for her. She reached out a hand across the table to meet the pale-skinned one and held it tightly.

“When the time comes for you to speak to your mother about this. I'll be here to support you through every day of it.” The Nigerian woman responded softly, smiling over at Caroline. “If you come over for lunch with me on Sunday then we can tell her together, she'd probably be happier having you there when she finds out anyway.” 

In response, she received a hesitant nod from the woman across from her and she grinned – even if Caroline wasn't entirely comfortable, she was willing to take the risk which was enough to reassure Kate it was the right thing to do. 

Sunday came around and the two teachers arrived at Grace's bungalow which was luckily only an hour's drive away, parking up and heading towards the the front door. The short, chubby lady answered the door with a wide smile and welcomed them both inside kindly.

Dinner was already laid out on the table as they entered the table and Caroline was pleasantly surprised to see such an amazing meal put out before her. Kate did not share her passion for cooking and tended to go down the easy route when she could, it obviously wasn't a trait that ran in the family. The three women settled down to begin their meals and chatted, they were already adequately acquainted after the lunch they had shared almost six weeks prior. 

“So Mum, I've got something to tell you.” Kate stated simply, looking up to meet her mother's glance and holding it. “Me and Caroline are in a relationship.” The taller woman reached over to grab the spare hand of her girlfriend and squeezed it reassuringly, Caroline looked nervously at the older woman and smiled. 

“I told you Kate! First time I met her I told you!” Grace stated knowingly, with a widened grin across her face. “Oh, I'm so pleased for you both! We need some wine to celebrate, Caroline it seems we are going to be seeing quite a bit more of one another.”

The older woman rose from her seat to go to the pantry, Caroline turned to look at the younger woman and smiled happily with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She pursed her lips and squeezed Kate's hand even more tightly for just a moment, feeling more joyous than she could ever remember. 

“I told you.” Kate whispered in to her ear before leaning back in to her seat grinning. 

“So, how long have you two ladies been concealing things from me?” Grace walked back towards the table holding three wine glasses and a large bottle of red. 

“Ermm...basically since you left.” Kate replied hesitantly with a curled lip. 

“Oh I see how it is! Well, you'd better be looking after my little girl anyway, Caroline.” Grace's tone was kind and earnest in a way that made Caroline's heart melt – like a stamp of approval on their relationship. “I trust you're keeping it out of school? I know my Kate isn't the most discreet of characters.” 

“Well, she's certainly independent but no, we haven't said anything at work. Really she looks after me though!” Caroline responded, there was a swelling in her heart as she took a sip from the glass placed in front of her. 

Kate was more than happy to watch as the two of them interacted, it pleased her to see Caroline so comfortable with her mother already. It was apparent that there was tension between the headteacher and her own mother, that was something that was going to have to be faced at some point but seeing her get along so well with Grace really put her mind at ease. 

“Well, we'd better be going. I'll pop down to see you again soon though Mum.” Kate offered lovingly, giving her Mum a tight hug. Grace also gave Caroline a quick hug to show her appreciation for the day. 

“Yes, I'm sure you will. Both of you come, Caroline here seems to liven you up a little!” Grace replied softly, smiling at the two women and watching as they walked down the drive.

Caroline jumped in to the driver's seat and threw her bag in to the bag, turning her head to face Kate with a grin. 

“Your Mum is so lovely, no wonder you weren't worried about telling her.” The blonde uttered kindly, moving her hand to stroke the side of her girlfriend's cheek affectionately. The languages teacher leant over and planted a soft kiss against her lips before the two of them began the drive home.

The two women spent the whole journey holding hands, moving in unison to use the indicator in a ridiculously 'couple'-like manner.


	22. Chapter 22

Caroline was settling comfortably in to the early stages of her relationship with Kate – the boys were happy to see her out of the house, her mother failed to involve herself and nobody at work questioned it. The only problem was that Caroline was beginning to feel as though she wanted to show Kate off – whenever Michael or somebody else got chatting with her in the staff room, she felt an odd sense of jealousy she'd never experienced before. 

The headteacher found herself wanting to tell people, of course she never intended to – she didn't have the willpower or the courage for that just yet but it made her believe that this was something new in her life. 

“Morning Mum,” Lawrence called from behind the fridge door. “Going out again tonight?”

“Yeah, I was planning to.” His mum replied as she poured her coffee. “Sorry sweetheart, I realize that I'm barely at home lately it's just...I'd forgotten what having a social life was like.”

“It's fine by me, I'm always at Angus' anyway.” The young boy smiled as he spoke, pleased about the positive influence the new teacher seemed to be having on his Mum. Ever since she had started working at the school, she'd been willing to go the extra mile to help students out. 

Will had already noticed the change in his Mum recently and he suspected it had something to do with Miss Mckenzie from the beginning – no matter how little credit his Mum gave him, he'd suspected for a very long time that she was hiding something from them. 

Kate had settled in well to school life and was beginning to get in to a comfortable routine – she knew all of her classes and got on well with the majority of the children that she taught. 

It was a Friday night and Caroline had every intention of staying as late as she could at Kate's house – they were still sticking to the rules of going steady after the drunken incident but it was coming up to two months. 

The blonde watched as Kate walked towards her and sat down close beside her to watch the television – they would start a reasonable distance away from one another but both parties knew that by the time the show had finished, they would cuddling shamelessly.  
“So Beethoven, been doing any composing recently? I keep hearing you playing while I'm getting changed or I'm in the bathroom or whatever.” Kate smirked, looking up to her girlfriend's gaze. 

“Nothing very good...hang on you mean you've been listening to me play?!” The blonde questioned shocked before scoffing at the brunette. 

“Only sometimes, it's nice to listen to when I'm in the shower. Anyway, it's my piano! If you're going to play it that means I have every right to listen.” Kate retorted teasingly, crinkling her nose as she giggled. 

“Well then, looks like I'll have to stop playing it.” Caroline deadpanned, looking directly at the television now. Kate narrowed her eyes, noticing the pursing of the blonde's lips and she shook her head slightly. “You are seriously naïve aren't you!”

“Oh, be quiet you!” The languages teacher exclaimed, jabbing her girlfriend in the side and smirking undeniably. Caroline pounced on the brunette and began to tickle her, laughing at the way Kate wriggled under her trying to retreat. “Stop, I'm sorry! I take it back!” 

Caroline gave in and halted her ministrations, giggling warmly against Kate's arm as the two of them caught their breath. Kate moved her arm to rest behind the blonde's neck and watched a pale hand move to rest on the curve of her hip, rubbing gently where the bone jutted out. 

The brunette moved her own hand to cover Caroline's and allowed their fingers to intertwine – neither of them was quite sure whether the other was ready, but they both knew in their own minds that they were. Moving her spare hand up to itch her nose, the headteacher allowed it to flop and rest on Kate's ribcage beside her own head. 

“Kate...is your Mum really happy about us or was she putting it on because I was there?” Caroline asked with a thoughtful look on her face, frowning slighly as she stared sub-consciously at the woman's sweater. 

“What would make you say that?” Kate had a concerned look spread across her face now as she rubbed her thumb reassuringly against her girlfriend's hairline. “Of course she is, I told you – she doesn't care who I'm with as long as they make me happy.”

Caroline re-adjusted herself slightly so that she could see Kate's face, meeting her line of sight hesitantly. 

“Do I?” The headteacher asked, letting her eyes flicker towards the kitchen before coming back to meet the younger woman's once again. 

“Of course Caroline, I thought you knew that.” Kate responded softly, pulling the blonde up and gazing in to her blue eyes before kissing her gently and stroking the flat of Caroline's black lovingly. “Do I?”

“More than you could possibly know.” The older woman replied candidly, smiling at her partner with honesty. “More than I ever imagined possible, Kate.”

The languages teacher looked over at the clock and realized that it was getting late – she didn't want to tell Caroline to leave but she worried about the boys. 

“I'm just going to get a glass of water, want anything while I'm up?” She uttered, rising from where she was sat on the couch and watching to see the small shaking of the head she received from her boss. 

Popping to the kitchen and gulping down the glass of water to refresh herself, she took a deep breath before re-entering the front room and finding Caroline, stood with an odd and unfamiliar look across her face. 

“What?” She felt a little like a deer caught in headlights under her boss' harsh gaze. 

Caroline almost pounced on her, taking hold of her cheek and kissing her forcefully. The blonde pushed her towards the door and held her there, letting her hand slip beneath the fabric of Kate's blouse and revelling in the way the bare skin felt against her fingers. 

She pulled away after a moment for breath and smirked – apparently quite proud of herself – as she rested her hands on either side of the slim, toned waist of her partner. 

“Do you want to stay tonight?” Kate questioned with a flustered yet menacing grin across her beautiful face. Caroline acted rather than spoke to provide an answer...and she did end up staying the night.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday guys but I was out and I literally got home an hour ago - I'll do a few more chapters than usual today to make up for it though

Waking the next morning, Kate found herself held close to the body of the woman behind her, arms lying across her midriff. Initially she was concerned that Caroline would react the same way she had last time, it was apparent to anybody that the headteacher wasn't entirely comfortable in the relationship. 

Kate laid there with slightly creased eyebrows, staring at the ceiling as she fretted over how her morning was going to play out. 

“Penny for them?” She heard the woman beside her whisper softly, planting a gentle kiss against her jawline. The brunette allowed a smile to creep across her face as she turned to face her boss and repay her the kiss. 

“Good morning.” Kate crooned as she nuzzled against the warmth of Caroline's neck. “Sleep well?”

“Marvellously...once we finally got there.” The blonde teased, allowing her fingers to run across Kate's taught and muscular stomach. 

The languages teacher giggled warmly against her skin, dropping feather-light kisses across her collar before allowing her head to rest against Caroline's shoulder. 

“Si la memoria no me falla, usted no estaba quejando.” She uttered sensually, sliding her fingers across the slopes of the older's woman curvaceous waist. 

“Don't speak Spanish when I can't understand you, Miss Mckenzie.” Caroline deadpanned in her best teacher voice. “It makes you sound terribly sexy.”

Kate gave Caroline a real wake-up call after that, realizing they probably ought to get up at some   
point. 

Mckenzie was allowing herself to relax in the shower when she found she had company, rolling her eyes she opened the cubicle door and allowed Caroline to enter. Smirking wildly at her girlfriend who simply couldn't control herself it seemed. 

Caroline made breakfast for the two of them as they both lazed around the house wearing thin silk robes and not much else. French toast was the last thing on her mind as she sat across the table from her partner, grinning at her natural form. 

“What time are the boys expecting you home?” Kate asked drably as she swallowed another forkful of the cuisine.

“Lawrence stayed at Angus' last night so he won't be back until this afternoon, Will isn't back from work until 3 and my Mum isn't getting my company whether I'm home or not so I'm in no rush for once.” Caroline replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes absent-mindedly as she spoke. 

“You do need to reconcile with her at some point Caroline – I know what it's like to part with a parent on bad terms.” Kate explained solemnly, looking mildly upset as she sipped at her tea – when she looked up, she was met by a pair of sapphire blue eyes laced with concern and curiosity. “My father...didn't want me to become a teacher, thought I was better than it and we argued about it before I left for university. He never really let up about it and I was sick of fighting over it so I stopped visiting home as often and I'd find ways to get out of speaking to him over the phone and we just generally started to drift apart over time. Then I went back to visit that Christmas and he didn't have any idea who I was, his Alzheimers had progressed and because I wasn't there, he'd forgotten me.”

Caroline rose from her seat, walking across to where Kate was sat and pulled the younger woman in to her arms protectively. She held her close and planted a kiss atop her head kindly, feeling such compassion for Kate.

The headteacher knew what that felt like, she had given up on her father after he threatened to leave home for a woman's he'd been shagging. Then when he died she realized that she barely even knew the man that she was crying over – she hadn't been there while he was ill and even if she had been, he'd become an entirely different person to the one she had grown up with. 

After losing one parent already, she knew that she wasn't going to allow herself to lose another one. 

“It's alright beautiful, come on, you're okay.” Caroline uttered quietly with her lips rested close to her colleague's hair. 

When Kate relaxed slightly and pulled back she looked up at the blonde and smiled, enjoying the moment no matter her emotional state. She allowed her head to rest against Caroline's as their eyes met – watching the magnificent shades of blue shift as her pupils dilated. 

Tugging her boss' chin with her index finger, she touched her lips against Caroline's and her heart fluttered as she allowed the feeling to overwhelm her and inhibit her bloodstream. She familiarized herself with the design of the blonde's lips, feeling as though they locked perfectly with her own. 

Caroline revelled in it, allowing her hand to rest against the brunette's smooth, tan cheek. It was euphoric to be against Kate's lips, to be against Kate...even to be close to her was enough to set the woman's senses alight. 

The two broke apart slowly, taking their time to finish what they had started. 

“Want to watch The Proposal?” Kate offered coolly and received a subtle nod.  
Sat on the couch with the curtain's still drawn and the lights turned off, the two women laid together with Caroline's arms wrapped around Kate holding her tightly. 

'I forgot what it was like, okay?!'

Kate watched as the scene played out on her television and she felt something drop on her head, then again. It took her a moment to realize they must be tears, she brought their intertwined hands up and planted a kiss on the back of Caroline's tenderly. 

They watched until the end of the film and both swooned at Sandra Bullock because...well who doesn't swoon when they see Sandra Bullock. 

“I probably ought to get back to the boys, I said we'd stay in tonight and watch a film or something.” Caroline stated, playing with a strand of dark wavy hair. “We'll do something tomorrow though?”

“Sure, gives me some time to finish my term report anyway.” Kate replied, sitting up and looking across at her boss and smiling. 

Caroline took her time getting ready to leave, when she was finally fully dressed and had her jacket and heels on – she walked towards the door hesitantly, following Kate. 

“It's only 24 hours Caroline, you can call me later on if you like.” Kate offered, smirking at her girlfriend. Caroline rolled her eyes and kissed Kate passionately, usually they settled for small pecks of affection but it felt right after the events of the previous evening. 

The two parted eventually and the headteacher went home to her family with an optimistic feeling. 

*Imagine that this is the night where Will tells Caroline he knows about her and Kate because I can't be bothered to write out the chapter when it will be almost identical*


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that I sort of fell off the radar for a few days, I started watching the Fosters and I've become addicted and have been marathonning it for the past couple of days. Might start a new fic for that? 
> 
> Updates are going to be less regular now because school starts again soon and I simply don't have the time.

“Will knows...” Caroline deadpanned, staring awkwardly towards the ground. “He asked me about us last night and I couldn't lie to him.”

“Okay...well how do you feel about it?” Kate questioned, looking concernedly at her partner. 

“I don't really know. I guess good that I don't have to tell him, but I suppose it speeds things along to tell Lawrence because I can't expect my son to keep secrets from his family for me.” The blonde replied hesitantly, avoiding the eyeline of her girlfriend. 

“Hey, it's okay...he just wants you to be happy. He knows how to act like an adult and he knows that you'll tell everybody else when you're ready to.” The languages teacher answered, reaching out her hand to meet Caroline's. 

“Thank you.” Caroline pursed her lips anxiously as she squeezed hold of the brunette's hand. “I'm just scared that this could end badly.” 

Caroline didn't want to lose the support of her family – first there was Lawrence who would take time to adjust but eventually come around, but there was also her mother who was cemented in her beliefs and would never adapt to support her daughter's choices. How was she supposed to choose between her mother and the woman who was quickly becoming the love of her life?

That night in bed, the strong exterior of the headteacher broke and she sobbed. Hysterical sobbing in to the arms of the only person in the world she felt she could trust to stand by her any more – and it terrified her to not be in control of her own emotions. 

Kate was equally scared, not because Caroline could lose everything – she would support her through that no question – but that she might not have the will power to go through with it. Would she really put everything in her life on the line for someone she barely knew? 

After the blonde had calmed, she laid still until she heard the soft breathing of her partner and turned easily within her arms to face her. 

“I love you, please don't leave me.” She whispered softly to her sleeping form. 

The next morning, the two women rose early to get on with their work – it was a training day so they didn't have to be in for a couple of hours and none of the kids would be in school. Both women were relieved when they woke up to find that they had time to prepare for the day ahead, neither one of them was quite ready to face it. 

“I think I want to tell Lawrence soon, he has a right to know and he might be weird about it at first but he's not judgemental – it will probably just shock him.” Caroline uttered softly, almost frightened as she sipped coffee from her mug.

“You're his Mum, he'll be fine about it sweetheart.” The brunette rubbed up and down the length of her boss' arms as she spoke, doing her best to reassure her. 

“Maybe you could come over for dinner...not tonight but maybe tomorrow? Or the next day? If you're free.” Caroline questioned nervously, resting her fingers uneasily against the mug. 

Kate wanted to be there for Caroline through every moment but this wasn't the type of thing that she needed to be there for. It would only damage things further if she was there when he found out...or at least she believed it would. 

“I'll come around afterwards but I don't think I ought to be there when it happens...you know just in case he takes it badly.” 

The headteacher was shaking at the prospect of telling her son, she had spent her entire life trying to hide it from herself and now she was at a point in her life where there was a need for her to tell other people. Maybe it wasn't something that she could really do...but it was something she had to do. 

After everything she had gone through to get a chance with Kate, she wasn't going to let that go because she was too scared to face up to her own problems. She wanted Kate to stand by her, but she had to do the same or the relationship would fall apart faster than she could put it together. 

“Thank you love, it means a lot to me.” Caroline replied kindly, entwining her own fingers with the hand that was resting against her shoulder and grinning. 

The languages teacher felt like she ought to say something but she knew that her presence was enough to reassure the older woman. This was a test – that was a despicable way to phrase it but it truly was – to find out whether Caroline was truly invested in their relationship or whether it was just a passing phase for her. 

Arriving at work that afternoon, the headteacher wasn't really prepared for a day of paperwork and meetings – all she wanted to do was sit in her office and think about how her evening might go. 

Never in all of her years had she expected the day to come where she would be telling her twelve-year-old son that she was in a relationship with his FEMALE languages teacher! It frightened her to think of how he might react, he was never a badly behaved boy but he never kept his opinions to himself either. 

As the day ended, Kate watched from her classroom window to see her girlfriend's car leaving the grounds and she smiled – no matter what happened tonight, she was going to be there to support Caroline through it. 

'Good Luck x' Caroline took a moment to read the note that she had found in her handbag before stepping out of the car and taking a deep breath. This was the only chance she had to do this for herself, putting off would just make things worse and it was already going to be hard enough. 

“Lawrence!” The blonde called as she walked through the front door. “Can you come down here please?”


	25. Chapter 25

He could've taken it worse. Caroline reasoned with herself, worried about the way her youngest son had reacted. At least he hasn't stormed out. 

“Lawrence, please come out so we can talk about this.” The blonde reasoned through the door, leaning against it in the hope she might make some progress. 

“I can't believe it.” Lawrence shouted angrily through sobs and his Mum pursed her lips worriedly. “Can nothing in life ever go fucking right?” 

“Sweetheart, can I come in please?” She knocked gently on the door before trying the handle and realizing he had already moved the blockade. “Why are you so upset about this?”

“Ha! Are you kidding? Literally the first nice teacher in our school ever and you decide to jump in to bed with her!” Lawrence exclaimed, ripping at pages of his schoolwork. “The worst thing is I really thought she gave a damn but she was just sucking up.”

“What are you talking about? Of course Kate cares, why would this change that?” Caroline spoke in a softer tone, tugging at her son's arm to make him join her on the bed. “Lawrence, talk to me.”

“You know what? I don't even care any more – she was giving me extra lessons, teaching me in my free periods and the occasional lunch break because I needed extra help. I thought she actually wanted to help me but I get it now, you asked her to.” Lawrence screamed, throwing his head in his hands. 

“I swear Lawrence, this is the first I've heard of it. Kate is a good teacher, and she does care about you doing well. Why didn't you tell me you were struggling before?” The headteacher questioned, resting her hand on his shoulder but he flinched away from it reflexively. 

“I don't know! Mum, it's fine – I'm happy as long as you're happy but can I please have some time to myself?!” Caroline shook her head gently before rising to leave the room. 

“He'll come around Mum, just go out for a bit. Give both of you some breathing time and I'll hold the fort until you get back.” William reasoned with her kindly, placing a soft kiss against her cheek. “It's going to to be fine, I love you.”

“I love you too Will.” Caroline replied softly, grinning at the mature young man standing in front of her. “I suppose I could go out for a little while.”

The blonde headed to her car to go for a drive, it was always the best way to calm herself down and she could call Kate while she was driving. 

After putting on a jacket and shoes, she got in to the car and pulled out of the drive to head for the road. Dialling Kate's number on the handheld almost as soon as she was on the main road. 

“Hello?” The soft, endearing voice of her girlfriend soothed Caroline immediately and she breathed deeply before responding and the two began chatting normally before the headteacher began to cry. 

“Woah, what happened honey? Is everything okay?” Kate questioned candidly, her worry dripping through the phone. 

“I told Lawrence...” Caroline began and her colleague's silence prompted her to continue. “He thinks that I like bribed you to help him out or something? He's so angry with me, I didn't even know about it until ten minutes ago!” 

“Sorry Caroline, I probably should of told you about that but I promised him I'd keep it quiet unless there was a reason for me not to. I guess he didn't want you to think that he wasn't as good as his brother or something.” Kate answered honestly, concerned at the damage she may have caused. “I'll talk to him tomorrow to see if I can persuade him to believe you.”

“Thank you Kate, on the positive side he didn't actually seem to have any problems with the idea of us being together. To be honest he didn't even seemed shocked, sounded more like his suspicions   
had been confirmed than it being the first he'd heard of it.” 

“Where are you anyway? I take it you're not in the house considering how loud you're shouting?” Kate said with a hint of humour in her tone. 

“I'm in the car, Will suggested we both take some time to cool off. I swear that boy in closer to 50 than 15.” Caroline giggled uneasily at her own joke.

“At least Lawrence didn't try to run away or anything – that shows that he's willing to work past this and not just try to ignore it.” Kate offered reassuringly and Caroline smiled slightly, wondering how this woman could possibly know her needs so well. 

“How are you always right?” The blonde questioned, only half joking as she tried to lighten the atmosphere.

“It's one of my many talents I assure you.” She could hear the smile in Kate's voice as she responded. “Anyway, you need to go make amends with your son Dr Elliot! I'll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks, goodnight. I love you.” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she wanted to pull them back in to her brain. She meant it...of course she did, but it was a risky time to make such a declaration.

“I love you too.” Kate answered easily, with seemingly no hesitance in her voice. “Goodnight.”

And with that, Caroline began her journey home and she knew she was in for a night of heartfelt apologies and hugs. It reassured her more to know that in the morning she would be able to walk in to work and have someone there to console her.


	26. Chapter 26

Celia had done her best to avoid her daughter since their argument, neither of them could be bothered to deal with the other and it always blew over eventually. There was really no point in trying to speed things along when they would figure themselves out over time. 

“So Lawrence, have you seen your father lately?” Celia asked as she sipped at her coffee, trying to make conversation with the boys despite them cold-shouldering her. 

“No, I'm not speaking to him. He's an ass.” The teenager replied bluntly and his grandmother's eyes widened in surprise. “I'm perfectly happy without him in my life.”

She knew that there was something going on, Caroline wasn't at home half as much as she used to be and it made her mother suspect that perhaps she had finally gotten over John. Then again, that would take more than a miracle because it had been almost three years of her saying that she wasn't interested in finding anyone new. 

“Oh, well I'm glad you've finally seen the light like your brother.” William smirked slightly at her remark, even if she had been acting like a bitch to Mum – she was still quite amusing at times. 

Will was trying to focus on studying for his exams but he couldn't quite settle down knowing about all of the dishonesty lurking around the house. He knew better than anyone that his grandmother was going to throw a fit when she found out about Kate, but he didn't see why his Mum was putting it off when she may as well get it over and done with. 

Things had been tense at school – not necessarily in a negative way – because of what the boys had found out about Kate. Neither felt that they could treat her like a normal teacher any more considering how personally involved she was with their mother. 

“Dinner tonight, Kate's coming, Mum you're invited.” Caroline spouted off briefly as she entered the kitchen and walked breezily towards the fridge. 

“Kate? That woman you hired a few months ago? I didn't know you were friends.” Celia questioned nosily, watching as her daughter rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I'll be here since it finally gives a chance to catch up after two flaming months!” 

“Yes it certainly does, I'll see you later then Mum.” The blonde replied, prompting her mother to leave and go back to her house. She left without another word and huffed slightly as she exited the door in an attempt to express her disdain. 

“I was going to ask if I could go to Angus' but I am definitely sticking around for this! I cannot wait to see the look of Granny's face!” Lawrence called excitedly, pulling out his phone presumably to tell his friend about the change in his plans. 

“Well, you'd better not make things any more difficult than they are already going to be. I don't want to imagine how your Grandmother is going to react and I don't want her to cause any more trouble considering everything that has happened over the past week trying to get you two boys to come to terms with it.” Caroline exclaimed, smirking at her youngest before smiling sweetly at Will – who was scoffing at her sarcastically for her comment. 

Caroline was quite excited to be able to tell her mother what was going on in her life finally – she was sick and tired of trying to keep it quiet just to please her mother and as her son had said, it was going to be quite amusing to see her mother's reaction to the news. 

Seeing how supportive William had been, and how happy Lawrence had been after he had come around to the idea really allowed the mother to accept that she didn't need the permission of her mother to do what she wanted with her life any more. It was up to Celia to decide how she was going to take the news but Caroline wasn't going to allow it affect her in any way, shape or form, 

“Hello Kate?” Caroline said as she put the phone to her ear and grinned as she heard the voice at the other end. “Yes, I just wanted to tell you that my mother will be here, I'm definitely going to need you because it already seems like she's not in the best of moods – I need to brace myself for this.” 

“It will be fine, she's your Mum sweetheart, she'll have to come to terms with it and if she's really going to be difficult about it then you have me and the boys to support you. So STOP stressing!” Kate answered kindly, giggling in an attempt to cheer up her girlfriend. 

Neither of them were entirely prepared for what was going to happen but they both agreed that it had to be done and as long as they stood by one another through it, nothing could go too badly. 

“Okay then, bye bye, love you.” Caroline responded softly, calmed by her partner's support. 

“Love you too, see you tonight.” 

Ever since that night on the phone when it had slipped out by accident, it had become a comfortable thing for them to say to one another. More so for Kate than the hesitant and shy headteacher but still, they had settled quickly since then. 

Caroline breathed deeply as she started to unpack her shopping, thinking about preparing the meal and allowing herself to stop worrying for a short while. It's going to be okay. She told herself in the hope that she might at least to some degree believe it but it failed drastically. By the time she had changed and cooked the meal, she was shaking like a leaf – until she heard the doorbell ring and her heart fell from her throat and took refuge where it ought to be once more.


	27. Chapter 27

Kate knocked on the door and was pleased to see Lawrence on the other side with a smile on his face, as he opened the door he greeted her kindly and acted normally. Following him through to the kitchen, she saw Caroline checking inside of the oven and it made her smile to see her girlfriend so comfortable and domesticated. 

“Hi!” Caroline exclaimed as she watched Kate enter the room, looking over to her two sons and grinning at their behaviour. “Take a seat, I just need to keep an eye on this.”

“Feeling alright?” Kate questioned softly as she watched the two teenagers leave the room. 

“I've been shaking like a leaf all day but I'm calmer now that you're here.” Caroline replied, taking a hold of Kate's hand for a moment to reassure herself before continuing with her cooking. 

After the meal was ready and Celia had arrived, the blonde couldn't quite shake off her nerves no matter how little she thought about it. All she wanted was to get it over with but she didn't want to ruin the evening so it would wait, until they had had at least some conversation. 

The five of them sat around the table and chatted amicably while they ate, Celia made a few out of place comments that earned her a hard glare but other than that everything was going well. The older woman even seemed to be making some effort to get along with Kate but no-one expected that to last for very long. 

“So Kate, you've been keeping my daughter busy I see? Good to see her out of the house though.” Celia said with a harshness to her tone that didn't quite seem intentional. 

“Yes, well Caroline's been very welcoming since I moved here and started working at the school.” Kate replied promptly, she'd almost said It's nice to have friends at work until she realized there was no need to make a pretense...or at least not if her girlfriend was a woman of her word. 

“Mum...there's something I have to tell you and you're not going to be pleased I'll admit. But quite frankly you can choose to accept it or not, your opinion doesn't phase me in the slightest, just consider that your grandsons are here before you throw a fit.” Caroline spoke gently and pursed her lips as she met her mother's hard and accusing glare. 

“Go on.” Celia stated in a plain, flat tone. 

“Me and Kate are...well you remember that chat we had while I was at uni...you might not.” Caroline started shyly, trying to build up a nerve as she took a deep breath before continuing. “When I told I was...Oh for gods sake, Kate and I are together! There I said it, now feel free to have your breakdown and start yelling.” 

Celia jaw dropped, she'd always assumed it was just a phase – her daughter had been married, she'd had children, she'd seemed happy – and suddenly in the knowledge that she was still under the false pretense she could live like this, she felt an urge to throw up. 

“Wha-? You...what about you and John? Was that all pretend, you can't just switch sides! Honestly Caroline, if this is your way of trying to get over him, it's not going to help!” Celia uttered, shocked beyond belief and falling over her words. 

“Sitting room, now Mother, I won't have you make a fool of yourself.” Caroline stated plainly, trying to keep her cool as she blinked heavily.

The two women walked briskly out of the dining room and away from the other three who had been sat in a stunned silence since Caroline had first spoken. Walking in to the sitting room and standing opposite one another with angry glares on their faces, the two women stood in silence for just a moment. 

“Caroline, don't do this to yourself! You're making a fool of yourself and you don't want to accept it, but you will...when it's too late and then you'll come crying to me. You don't want to be with her, you don't even know her!” Celia shouted, no longer caring about retaining her dignity as long as she could get this message through to her daughter. 

“Oh really Mother, do grow up! I'm 40 years old, I think I can make my own decisions! This isn't about asking you for advice, this is me telling you something about my life that at some point you're going to have to come to terms with. You don't have the right to judge me or my life decisions or the people that I decide to love – because where the hell have you been Mum?” Caroline retorted angrily with spite in her eyes. 

“So it's all my fault, as per usual. You say that you can make your own decisions but you aren't willing to take responsibility for your own actions. Do what you like with your life because I honestly don't care any more, I've given up on trying with you just know that I won't be there when you come crawling back to me because you've made a mistake and you've ruined your relationship with your entire family over a woman who doesn't give a damn about you.” Celia stared down her daughter, the relationship had always been weak and they'd had arguments far worse than this but it felt different somehow. 

“You don't have the faintest idea Mum, maybe Kate doesn't like me as much as I like her but quite frankly I don't care. Let's be honest I can't exactly take relationship advice from you can I! I think it'd be best if you left, call me when you grow up.” Caroline scoffed at her mother before passing her and walking back towards the dining room entrance, lurking until she saw her mother leave.

Taking her seat back at the dining table, she sat beside Kate and swallowed the lump in her throat as she smiled at her sons. She rested her hand on the table loosely and was relieved to feel the woman beside her take hold of it.


	28. Chapter 28

“You know that isn't true, don't you?” Kate spoke softly in to the darkness, looking across at Caroline and feeling blue eyes meet her own. “What your Mum said earlier?”

“My Mum said a lot of things but yeah, of course.” Caroline responded, dismissing the question easily before turning her head back to the television quickly. 

“No really Caroline, if you don't know that then what are we doing here?” Kate backed away as she spoke, moving out of the blonde's hold and looking across at her seriously, with worry in her tone. “Talk to me Caroline.”

“I don't do trust Kate, never have and I probably never will. I know how I feel about you and as long as you're willing to stick around whether it's for the right reasons or the wrong ones, then I'm happy. If you really don't have any intentions to leave me then you have no need to be concerned.” Caroline spoke in her headteacher voice, the one she used when she had to say things that meant nothing to her and that she had no emotional attachment to. 

“No, stop. I get that you struggle with trust because of what happened with ex-husband but that doesn't mean you get to put yourself in that position all over again. I don't want in on a relationship where my partner's constantly worried that I could walk out at any moment.” Kate had a frown across her face and she batted Caroline's hand away as it came to meet hers. “I'm being serious Caroline, I refuse to put you in a position where you don't feel stable.”

“Kate, the only way I'm ever going to believe you is if you stick around. Stay by your word and over time I may come to believe you – never in all my life have I experienced real, genuine love from anyone except my sons and that's because they're obliged to love me.” Caroline took a deep breath, running her tongue over her teeth before continuing candidly. “I grew up in a house with two people who didn't love each other, and who didn't know how to express love if they had felt it, so that's how I see the world. I don't know how love works, I was born in to a world where it was a fairytale.” 

The languages teacher gave in to her instincts and pulled her boss towards her, meeting her lips gently at first but allowing it become more as time passed. In her mind, it said everything that she wanted to explain, and everything that couldn't get out. As they broke away, Kate put a finger under the pale woman's chin and looked deep in to her sapphire eyes. 

“Life can be a fairytale if you find the right person.” She whispered softly, and that was the end of the conversation.

It was dark when Kate finally headed home, both the boys were in bed already and she had said her goodbyes to Caroline. She felt awful for leaving Caroline home alone after the night she had had but it wouldn't look good to the boys if she stayed over just days after they had found out about the relationship at all. 

As she walked through her front door, Kate pulled out her phone and texted Caroline to reassure her she was here for her. Planning to go straight to bed, she grabbed a glass of water and began to make her way up the stairs. 

She took the landline phone with her and placed it by the side of her bed as she changed in to pyjamas. It wasn't until after she was laying in bed that she noticed the new voicemail and began to play it without hesitation. 

“I don't know what you think you are doing with my daughter...” As soon as the message started playing she had to pull it away from her ear because the yelling was so loud, but it was also unmistakeable – that was the voice of Celia Dawson. 

Knowing that she wouldn't sleep if she heard the rest of it, she stopped it and decided to leave it until the morning before settling down to go to sleep. 

Caroline wasn't having a much better time as she headed upstairs to go to bed, she couldn't shake off the feeling that maybe her mother had been right. Even though her mother was wrong a lot of the time, and she was horrendously judgemental – she did speak some sense occasionally and this felt like one of those times. 

Kate had no reason to be interested in a woman that was five years older than her, she could easily pull a 20-year-old without challenge so what were her true motives. Ever since she had found out about John being unfaithful, there had been a doubtfulness behind every decision that the once strong and independent woman made. 

Leaning over to check her phone, she saw that she had received a new text from Kate and opened it: 

I'm here for you, remember that. Any hour, and I love you xxx

She decided against replying, purely because she wasn't quite sure what to put, maybe in the morning but for now all she needed was to try and get some sleep before the voice of her mother entered her mind and kept her up until all hours, eating away at her conscience. 

Eventually everyone managed to settle in to a light sleep...everyone aside from Celia, who spent her entire night tossing around, concerned about the damage she may have done subconsciously. Although in reality she would never admit that she doubted her actions, not even to herself because Celia Dawson would never admit to making a mistake until the day she died. 

At least the damage was done and any healing could begin, everybody was struggling with the events of the evening but they all had their own source of support, aside from Celia who had blown her own chances.


	29. Chapter 29

“So, an entire weekend to ourselves...what are we going to do with it Dr Elliot?” Kate teased as she poured herself a cup of coffee. 

“Not entirely to ourselves, my mother is still next door but I don't think she plans to visit us anytime soon.” Caroline responded with a blank look on her face that worried Kate. 

“She'll come around eventually, and if she doesn't then that's her loss.” The brunette reassured, squeezing her girlfriend's hand tightly. “It's going to turn out fine, baby.”

“Sorry, love. I shouldn't be stressing you out with this, how about a nice day in bed?” 

Kate nodded gently, standing up to cuddle in to the back of Caroline as she stood up and smiled. 

The two women headed upstairs and made themselves comfortable in the warmth of the large bed, flicking on the television and enjoying the daytime programmes. The blonde rested her head against the younger woman's chest and found herself falling asleep in the hold of her arms. 

“I was wondering...how would you feel about moving in?” Caroline asked casually, hoping not to make a big deal out of it unnecessarily. “It's just that you're here almost every night and it doesn't really make sense to be paying for a place when you're never there.”

“Wow, Caroline – I mean, you're right but that's a big step. If it was just about me then I'd say yes straight away but we have to consider the boys, and whether this is the right thing for you.” Kate replied softly, moving her hand to rest on Caroline's shoulder. “Are you sure you aren't just doing this to prove yourself?”

“What? No, of course not. I...I thought that you'd be happy!” The blonde raised her head, turning to face her colleague and backing away from her slowly. “Who would I be proving myself to? You?” 

“Caroline stop, you know I didn't mean it like that. I just...want to know you'd be doing it for the right reasons. How long have you really taken to think about this?” Kate closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down before she sighed and rose from where she was laid. “I'm going to nip to town and I'll find us something for dinner, I shouldn't be too long and it might give you some time to think.”

The headteacher watched as she left the room and sat there in silence until she heard the front door shut. It was never supposed to be an argument, perhaps a slightly heated discussion but she had actually walked out of the house!

She knew that there was always doubt in Kate's mind – this was supposed to prove her commitment, not fall the other way entirely. Knowing that she had to fix it, she got up and made her way out of her own house with a plan to sort it out as well as she could. 

After just an hour's shopping, the languages teacher began to regret walking out. She knew what it would do to Caroline – she had promised to be there and to help her through it and now she had walked out just like John did. Not in the literal sense but metaphorically, she had left Caroline alone. 

Forcing herself to wait another half an hour before she left to head back, she found the front door had something attached to it. It wasn't until she got close that she realized it was a key – below it there was a note that read: 

Hear me out. Then decide whether you'll keep it or not.

Kate had to hold back from rolling her eyes at the dramatic actions of her partner. She entered the house using the key she had found outside and made her way to the sitting room where she found Caroline sitting. 

“I went around to my Mum's. Told her that you were moving in and if she wasn't going to make more of an effort to be civil with you then I'd buy her out and she could find somewhere else to live.” The older woman stated without even turning her head to look at the brunette, only now did she move to make eye contact. “I want to spend the rest of my life. I hid this from myself for my entire life and now I'm willing to shout it out to the entire world just so I can be with you.”

“Caroline, you didn't have to do that! Really love, I don't need the entire world – I just need you, here and now. I love you, not some person that you try and pretend to be to please me.” Kate walked over and brought the blonde up so she was at the same level as her. “But yes.”

The headteacher touched her lips to her colleague's shyly at first, before she found her comfort zone once more and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. She moved her hand to rest against the younger woman's waist and let it stay there for a moment as she lost herself in kissing the love of her life. 

She'd never referred to her like that before, not even in her head. It had taken her until now to realize that this was different, different to anything she had ever experienced before. 

“Upstairs?” Kate asked, out of breath as she pulled away from Caroline and started to work on her neck. 

“We're home alone.” Caroline answered cheekily, nudging her girlfriend backwards until they landed on the sofa that was opposite them. 

A few hours later when it was beginning to get dark outside, the headteacher giggled loudly as she realized that the two of them were naked in her sitting room. She laughed warmly against the skin of Kate's flushed breasts and placed loving kisses against them softly. 

“I love you.” The brunette whispered softly as she rested her hand in the blonde tresses of her partner.

“I believe you.” Caroline answered softly, pursing her lips gently as she waited for a reaction. She didn't receive one until she looked up and saw a teary-eyed Kate smiling at her.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's shorter than usual - I know, I'm sorry. Considering bringing this to a close, not just yet but probably at around 50 chapters.

The two women spent the entire weekend wrapped up in one another's company – taking full advantage of the empty house while they had the chance. Preparing to collect the boys from their school trip was considerably more depressing than was expected when they realized they couldn't walk around in their underwear anymore. 

“Hey Mum!” Will said, hugging Caroline before putting his bag in to the car boot. “Hi Kate!”

Lawrence threw his bags in to the back of the car and slid in to the car quietly, huffing loudly. 

“Don't mind him Mum, he's just annoyed because Angus wouldn't share a tent with him.” Will teased, smirking at his unamused sibling. 

“No! Actually, it's because he accused me of being bloody gay.” Lawrence retorted angrily, staring his brother down animalistically. “Ignorant little twat.”

“Oi, language! Anyway, since when? You've been fine before now.” Caroline deadpanned, driving back towards the house with her eyes forward. 

“Ugh, some of the lads have found out about you two. They think it runs in the family or something, be grateful I didn't kill them.” Kate's eyes bulged as she kept her head forward, doing her best not to look at the expression on her girlfriend's face. 

“Well I'll be talking to him in the morning.” The headteacher responded spitefully, not happy her son's bluntness. 

Her younger son didn't seem too happy about that either but he gave in, knowing that his Mum was the most stubborn of them. 

Driving home was dull, there wasn't much said until they got the house and Caroline told the boys to go and wait in the sitting room so she could talk to them. 

“Are you okay being here for this?” Caroline asked softly as she watched her sons enter the house. “You know Lawrence might lash out.”

“No, I want to be here. As long as I can be making tea when you tell them, I just don't want to be in the room.” Kate answers, making her way towards the front door and walking through it. 

“So you're leaving me alone with two potentially angry teenagers?” The blonde questioned jokingly, smirking at her counterpart. 

“You do it everyday, you'll be fine.” The languages teacher responded, reaching to peck her on the lips quickly before retreating to the kitchen. 

The headteacher did her best to break it to her sons lightly, concerned they might be unhappy about it but neither seemed phased by it. They just got on with their days and treated Kate like they had been for months. 

“Homework before dinner, boys.” The mother called through to the sitting room, knowing her sons would make excuses. 

“I don't have anymore!” Lawrence shouted back and Kate rolled her eyes before going in to the front room and raising an eyebrow curiously at her student. “Apart from the large chunk of Spanish that is due tomorrow.”

The brunette gave him a sarcastic nod, with a smirk on her face as she saw him rise to go to his room. Taking his place at the Xbox, she managed to maintain her title of coolest teacher – grinning over at William who had been so supportive since day one. 

“Up and at 'em, you two. Dinner's on the table.” Kate stopped herself from rolling her eyes, tempted to laugh at her girlfriend briefly. “Come on you, or I'll give your food to the boys.” 

Kissing Kate had become Caroline's favourite pastime, whether it was small loving pecks or long passionate make out sessions. She planted a gentle kiss in her lady's hair and tugged the game controller away from her quickly. 

“You'll pay for that!” Kate exclaimed, standing up to walk through the kitchen and walk past Caroline...as she did she whispered cheekily. “Later.”

“So boys, glad to be back with your Mum's real cooking rather than campfire soup?” Kate asked casually as she sat down in her place, grinning at the two boys, now excessively nodding. 

The four of them settled in to their meals, chatting normally as they ate. After half an hour, Caroline rose from her seat to dish up dessert. That was when she heard the knock at the door, walking to open it – she found the last person she expected to see. 

“I'm here to make amends.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know - I've been gone for absolutely ages but I got sidetracked and then my computer broke and then I had to watch series 2 back for inspiration. I'm Sorry:'(

“Mum, I don't think it's the best idea for you to be here right now. Kate's here, I don't want to cause yet another argument.” Caroline answered quietly, standing with her mother in the hallway, purposely guarding the door. 

“I'm glad Kate' s here – I want to speak to her. I promise not to cause any arguments.” Celia replied, watching as her daughter rolled her eyes. 

“Everything alright hon'?” Kate questioned, popping her head around the door and looking surprised to see the older woman stood there. “Celia, please come through – we were just finishing up dinner.”

“Kate I'm not-” Caroline started but received a stern look from her partner and gave in, walking back in to the dining room. “Can you just say whatever you need to Mum?”

“Fine – I need to apologize to the both of you. For a start, I'll admit that I don't like what you're doing but that doesn't mean I'll fall out with you over it. You're my daughter and I though refuse to change my beliefs, but I am willing to overlook them in order to maintain a good relationship with my family. Kate, I said a lot of things that I didn't mean – before I heard the news, you were making quite the impression on me and I hope that you'll be able to forgive me.” Celia offered candidly, with honesty lacing her unfeeling tone. “Please Caroline.”

“I would never expect you to change your opinions Mum, you're just as stubborn as me. But I will not be judged in my own home, I've spent long enough trying to deny this. If you're willing to try and form an amicable relationship with both myself and Kate, then we would gladly invite you back in to our lives.” Caroline answered with spite in her tone, glaring icily at her mother. 

“What she means, is that we accept your apology and hope that we can reconcile despite our differences.” Kate added, reaching to squeeze Caroline's arm. 

“Well I'd better be going, the hotel doesn't like when people turn up too late.” Celia said, making her way back towards the door of the room which was still ajar, nodding appreciatively. 

“You have a house Mum.” Caroline replied gently, looking across at her mother with remorse. There was a weak smile against her lips as Celia moved back towards the door and said her goodbyes to the two women, shouting her regards to the boys before leaving. 

Caroline managed to keep her cool for the rest of dinner before sending the boys upstairs to do their homework – making her way calmly towards the living room followed closely by her partner. Kate sat down on the couch, pulling the blonde to sit on her lap and pursed her lips worriedly. 

“Talk to me Caroline, I can see that you didn't take that as well as you're pretending to.” Kate uttered softly, slightly hurt by the way Caroline tried to worm out of her embrace. Eventually the blonde relaxed her, exhaling loudly before beginning to speak.

“She's never apologized to me before.” The headteacher stated matter-of-factly. “Not in 40 years, she's never once admitted to being wrong, so why now? It's always been me doing to apologizing – so why has this finally turned her head?”

“I don't know love, maybe we never will. Maybe she just realized that this time you were serious, for the first time in your life you put yourself before her.” Kate replied candidly, rubbing her hand up and down Caroline's back soothingly. “Maybe you should play, I know it helps you when you're feeling down.”

“How are you always right?” Caroline smirked half-heartedly, gazing across at the beautiful instrument sitting where her old one used to. “I might...just for a little while.”

“I'll go make us some tea then.” Kate answered, standing up and nudging Caroline in the direction of the piano that had once belonged in her own front room. 

Caroline moved to sit down at the piano, beginning to play comfortably as she had gotten in to the habit of playing over the past months. It had swiftly become like second nature to her again, after years of separation from it – it had fallen back in to her grasp so easily. 

Kate walked back in to the room holding two steaming mugs, grinning as she set them down atop the coffee table. Sauntering towards the blonde and sitting down beside her, leaning to plant a small kiss on the edge of her jaw.

“What was that you were playing before I came in? Doesn't sound like one of yours..” Kate said softly, focusing her attention on a cluster of freckles underneath Caroline's cheekbone. 

“No, it's a song that came on the radio when I was driving the other day, I liked it and it reminded me of you so I thought maybe I'd keep it in the backlog for when I owe you something.” Caroline answered, smirking as she looked down at the notes. 

“Well, I could always use a serenade – I've already heard a little bit, it's only fair!” The brunette remarked, sticking her tongue out childishly. Caroline rolled her eyes before allowing her fingers to rest against the ivory keys, slowly playing the introduction. 

“I’ve waited a hundred years  
But I’d wait a million more for you  
Nothing prepared me for  
What the privilege of being yours would do

If I had only felt the warmth within your touch  
If I had only seen how you smile when you blush  
Or how you curl your lip when you concentrate enough  
Well I would have known  
What I was living for all along  
What I’ve been living for

Your love is my turning page  
Where only the sweetest words remain  
Every kiss is a cursive line  
Every touch is a redefining phrase

I surrender who I’ve been for who you are  
For nothing makes me stronger than your fragile heart  
If I had only felt how it feels to be yours  
Well I would have known  
What I’ve been living for all along  
What I’ve been living for

Though we’re tethered to the story we must tell  
When I saw you, well I knew we’d tell it well  
With a whisper we will tame the vicious seas  
Like a feather bringing kingdoms to their knees”

Kate couldn't wipe the grin off of her face as she listened to the woman she was falling in love with, singing such meaningful words to her. The brunette kissed Caroline harshly – smirking at the shocked look on her face that appeared before she relaxed. 

“I love you.”


End file.
